Another Unwanted Triangle
by Basmathgirl
Summary: [Ten/Donna romance] In a twisted AU, Donna Noble needed to get away from her abusive ex-fiancé, fast, so when a job cropped that offered a placement with a reclusive writer, she quickly applied for it. It all seemed so simple at first.
1. Chapter 1

**WARNING:** not suitable for Rose shippers, as this is a definite Doctor/Donna romance.  
 **Summary:** in a twisted AU, Donna Noble needed to get away from her abusive ex-fiancé, fast, so when a job cropped that offered a placement with a reclusive writer, she quickly applied for it. It all seemed so simple at first. Do your job, pretend you're gay and fend off the unwanted attention of women. And then it suddenly got complicated because of a pair of warm brown eyes.  
 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing here beyond an old typewriter and a few fantasies.  
 **A/N:** I thought I'd better start posting this even though I'm nowhere near finished writing it for **RainGirl9** yet.

* * *

 **Part 1**

.

Donna Noble was happily enjoying a well-deserved pint of cold lager with her latest co-workers. They'd had a busy week sorting out some tricky invoice payments, and now they could all sit back in the exclusive wine bar known as "Harry's Pad" and relax for the evening.

One woman made a joke about them being singled out for attention from a good-looking bloke, and they had all tried to crane their necks to see who it was. Watching them was a tall handsome man in a crisp suit. As they all laughed together, Donna felt her blood run cold.

It was him! She hastily ducked down and pretended to search for something in her handbag. Had he seen her? Hopefully not.

"You alright, Donna?" the nearest person asked.

"Yeah. Thanks Debbie," she replied, not wanting to draw attention to herself. "Just need a bit of fresh air for a minute. Won't be long."

Walking as quickly as she could, she made her way around the periphery of the bar and headed straight to the ladies' toilets. Once there, she hastily stuck her hands under a running tap before wiping her cold fingers across her brow. It was ridiculous to be affected by him after all this time, but he had surprised her by suddenly appearing out of the blue like that. If he was still out there she would have to escape. With that in mind, she pulled out her phone and dialled a familiar number. "Hello, Mum. Are you busy? No, I'm not phoning for a chat; I might need help. I've just seen him. Yes, it was definitely him. Outside in the bar. Can you come and pick me up? I'll wait here in the toilets for a few minutes and then I'll meet you outside. Thanks, Mum. Love you. Please hurry."

She shut her phone off and stood there anxiously, contemplating what her best plan of action would be. It would help if she knew where exactly he was, she realised. Creeping over to the door, she cautiously opened it with one finger and peeped out.

There was no sign of him, so she breathed a sigh of relief. At that precise second, one of her friends walked in.

"You don't look at all well," she commented. "Got a jippy tum?"

"Something like that," Donna answered. "I'm going to head for home. Sorry. I've called Mum to come and get me. Sarah, would you tell the others where I've gone?"

"Sure."

"And while I think to ask, that bloke who was watching us, did you see him on the way in here?"

"Why? Want to grab his number?" Sarah laughed at her own joke.

"Yeah," Donna lied. "If Wendy doesn't grab him first."

"I bet she already has!" Sarah commented with glee. "See you later, and take care of yourself."

"Will do. See you tomorrow," Donna replied and stepped out of the safety of the restroom.

Now what was she supposed to do?

Looking around, she spied the main entrance and calculated that it would take her approximately fifteen seconds to fight her way through the throng to get there. Maybe ten if she wasn't hindered by anyone. Taking one step forward, a hand shot out from behind her and roughly grasped her wrist. She turned to accost her unwanted delayer and found herself staring straight into his dark eyes.

"Hello Donna," he smoothly greeted her. "Enjoying your evening with your new friends?"

"Oh! Hello Lance. Didn't expect to see you here." Feigning ignorance would have to do for now, she decided on a gulp. "I was just about to go home."

"No you don't," he growled, but she had already pulled herself away from his grasp and was heading determinedly to the door.

"I have to go," she insisted as she moved. "See you again some time."

"Donna," he threatened, catching her by the arm once she was out on the pavement. "You can't escape me forever."

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not interested, Lance," she seethed. "Now get your filthy mitts off me and leave me alone."

He would have said and done more but he spotted the familiar sight of Sylvia Noble's little blue Peugeot bombing along the road towards them. "You'll come back to me; I know you will. Just you see," he threw at her as he walked back into the bar.

"In your dreams!" she hissed, and then opened the passenger door of her mum's car.

"Was that him?" Sylvia queried. "Get in. I'm taking you to the police."

"No, Mum. Don't," she begged. "Just let me go home. Please."

"Alright," Sylvia reluctantly agreed. "This time I'll let it lie."

It was in that moment that Donna knew, without a shadow of a doubt, she would have to find a whole different way of dealing with this situation. Find something to do and somewhere to go while she gained the mental strength to fight this. It was then that she thought about the job she had seen advertised in the Metro. A secretarial job that might save her bacon, in all sorts of ways. Absently rubbing the forming bruise on her wrist, she was determined to get that job if it was the last thing she did.

./-\\.

As temp jobs go, the one at Vitex Industries wasn't going too badly, Donna Noble thought. That is, she did, until the office manager suddenly approached her in order to whisper, "Can we see you in my boss' office right away, please? It's a job matter."

Bugger! Was she being let off early from this contract? And just when she was getting in her stride too...

Trying to contain a huff of exasperation, Donna got up from her seat and obediently followed the office manager passed several booths before entering the main corridor that led to glass-walled rooms. Eventually they stopped outside one of them, and Donna was ushered inside.

"Oh!" she exclaimed when she saw two suited people who looked up from the expensive glass topped desk and gave her a well-trained smile.

"Good morning, Ms Noble," the woman of the two greeted her, smiling broadly. "I'm Rose Tyler and this is my PA, Graham." Pleasantries were exchanged, and then Rose continued, "Please take a seat. Sorry for the secrecy but this is a delicate matter. I understand that you previously met with Joanna Kirk at our Piccadilly offices for the job you applied for in the Metro recently. Hopefully she discussed wages and all that. We have called you in here today to give you a second interview and a bit more information. The position is with my boyfriend, Dr John Smith, who has asked us to act on his behalf. I understand from your notes that you have a great deal of experience as a personal assistant."

"I do indeed," Donna confidently confirmed, her mood brightening at this news. Thank goodness she had chosen to wear her dark pin-striped skirt suit today with a contrasting burgundy vest top. At least she looked the part.

Rose picked up the piece of paper in front of her that held Donna's C.V. along with an attached letter of introduction. "According to this you have worked at a number of places. Can you tell us why you've changed positions so much?"

This was a question she had long been anticipating. Didn't her own mother often confront her with it, after all? "I've been working for a temping agency for quite a while now. It suits me, acting like an emergency service, righting wrongs as I learn or adapt new technical skills. It certainly makes you ready to face practically anything or anybody. And I've easily maintained my 100-wpm ability. Whatever the situation, I can cope."

There was pleased nodding. "This position we are offering might require you to live in for a while. Would that create problems for you with your life partner?" Rose wondered.

Her what…? "Oh, I haven't got one of those," Donna admitted, "I've totally given up on men. There's been nothing beyond a casual fling so there'd be no problem at all." She then frowned. "Live in, you say? I don't do domestic duties like housekeeping." It'd be just her luck if this position was as a glorified au pair.

"No, you misunderstand me," Rose assured her. "My boyfriend sometimes has to travel extensively during his research for his books, so you would probably have to go with him. He is often engrossed in his work."

Donna still had no idea who 'he' was; probably some academic by the sound of it, but this sounded promising. "Oh, I see. Sorry. I got the wrong end of the stick then. Travelling shouldn't be a problem. I love travelling to new places and testing out languages. That sounds right up my street."

"Good." Rose nodded in satisfaction.

A sudden thought struck her. "If you don't mind me asking, what sort of books does Dr Smith write?" Donna queried. "You know, to forewarn myself if they are mucky books rather than something serious."

"Oh no," Rose laughed with joy. "He has his fun moments, but he's not into anything dodgy like that. Not even remotely. He writes fantasy novels full of alien creatures and heroic humans."

Still meant they could be full of erotic images, written or drawn, Donna noted to herself, but she kept her mouth shut on that aspect. It was best that she looked him up in the local library first. Or perhaps a quick trip down to Hounslow Library and kill two birds with one stone by visiting a few old faces she knew there. "That's a relief."

Rose smiled in response. 'Relief' covered how she felt too. This woman before her had credentials that were impressive. She was amenable, highly skilled, and best of all, she was available; as well as unavailable, in all the right ways. "I think we're almost through here. Yes?" She looked at the man beside her, who readily nodded in agreement. "In that case, if you would wait for me outside in my assistant's office, I'll be out to speak to you in a moment."

Well, Donna couldn't fault the younger woman's confidence. She seemed to have it in bucket loads. "Okay," she acknowledged, and headed towards the outer office to wait.

She hadn't been out there more than two minutes when Rose suddenly appeared before her.

"Congratulations, Donna. Welcome to your new position," Rose declared, offering a hand to shake. "Strictly speaking you won't be an employee of Vitex, but since we are hiring a number of people today, you may as well come and meet them. Especially as you might be dealing with a couple of them on a daily basis. Follow me. We can celebrate together in the Conference Room."

"How come you were doing the interviewing for Dr Smith?" Donna wondered.

"He trusts me," Rose answered as they walked along the sleekly modern corridor lined with doors and large windows peeping into offices. "And the Doctor can easily get distracted from what he should be doing."

Seemed a bit formal to call him that, Donna considered; especially if they were an item, but you never know with some blokes. Or it might be an arranged relationship. "Is that what you call him?"

"Yes, he prefers it," Rose commented as she opened the door that led into a large open space. "This is the Conference Room. The others will be along in a moment, but Graham will bring your papers in a minute. Before we sign contracts," she leaned conspiratorially near to whisper, "there is one small matter we need to touch on. This is not a general policy of this company but between you and me, since it has more to do with your new working environment."

"Oh?"

"It concerns any future girlfriend you might want to entertain," Rose coyly admitted.

"Er… pardon," Donna spluttered. "Did you say 'girlfriend'?"

But Rose ignored her hesitation and forged on with her request. "Yes, Donna. Seeing as you will be working from my home, we think it best that you do not to bring your sexual activities onto my property. Private means private in this respect, since you know how much men can turn that sort of thing into a fetish. It could cause all sorts of nonsense."

"Of course," Donna agreed while her mind desperately whirred as it sought out a way to admit she wasn't in fact a lesbian without causing any offence or losing this plum job. "And what would happen should I hypothetically find myself in a slightly more heterosexual relationship?"

Rose turned her stern gaze fair and squarely onto Donna. "Then you would be out on your ear before I dragged you through the courts for misrepresentation. Nobody dances with the Doctor behind my back." Rose took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Stepping sideways to place her hand on the back of a seat, she added, "Kidding! Not that it should come to that because I do not take anyone being interested in my boyfriend lightly. You mess with him and you mess with me; big time."

Donna gulped. Shit! This was serious. The woman could go psycho at any second and she had pots of money to buy her way out of it. Just what you needed to be threatened with on a dull Monday morning. "Then it's a good job I won't be interested in him in the slightest," she confidently stated.

"It is," Rose approved.

"Tell you what, I'll even make sure no other woman gets anywhere near him. How does that sound?" Donna offered. It was the least she felt she could do in the circumstances.

"Marvellous!" Rose exclaimed, and moved towards the door to denote their private meeting had ended. "In that case, welcome to Vitex Industries, Donna. I'm sure we will have a very happy working relationship."

All it took was a handshake to seal the deal, and Donna was in seventh heaven.

A job; a decently paid job, doing what she loved, with the added option of travel. What could be finer? All she had to do was meet the boyfriend and actually start work. Should be a breeze.

./-\\.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** in case you didn't know, Basil Brush is a puppet of a fox on children's television in the UK.

* * *

 **Part 2**

.

Four other people entered the conference room, obviously new to the place. Three men of varying ages as well as sizes, and a portly older woman who seemed extremely relieved Donna was there too. Soon after, Graham opened the door to escort Rose into the room.

"Hello again everyone," Rose greeted them all. "This is an ideal opportunity for us all to meet each other properly. Please help yourselves to the nibbles on the table. Graham will provide us with a glass of bubbly to celebrate your new jobs in a moment, and tea or coffee will be provided afterwards. Then…"

She didn't get the chance to finish what she was going to say because a tall, thin, dark-haired man burst into the room. "Sorry! So sorry for being late," he quickly apologised to Rose. "Did you manage to choose someone for me?"

"Yes, she's…"

Again, Rose was interrupted by him as she pointed vaguely in a direction.

"Oh! How do you do," he enthused as he took the hand of the woman he presumed had been chosen and who Donna happened to have been chatting to. "And you are?"

"I'm Beverley, but you can call me 'Bev'. I'm wonderful now I've met you," the woman schmoozed; causing confusion to blossom all over his face.

To the side, Donna wanted to laugh at the embarrassed awkwardness emanating from him as he tried to compose his features into polite rejection.

Rose took a firm hold of his sleeve and steered him away. Jealousy blazed in her eyes for a second, leaving a definite pout behind. "No, not her," she cautioned him through gritted teeth. "This is Donna, your new PA."

Donna stood up straighter to shake his hand. She saw a man in his late to mid-thirties, certainly not quite forty yet, she assessed him, nice friendly face but nothing special, dressed in a brown pinstripe suit but obviously using Jamie Oliver as his role model, judging by the Converse on his feet that matched his tie; and with lovely soft hands. "Hello Dr Smith," she warmly greeted him.

His eyes went wide as he stared at her. Had Rose really chosen this particular woman? She wasn't what he had expected in the slightest.

"You're a, you're erm…," he stammered.

"I'm ginger. You're allowed to say it," she pleasantly finished for him. "But only if you don't hold it against me."

Well, she hoped he didn't, but it would not be the first time her hair colouring was used to discriminate.

"I…" His gaze then went from her hair back to her eyes, resolutely staying well above her cleavage. It was best that way. "I love ginger hair. Have always wanted to be ginger."

Oops! Perhaps he shouldn't've admitted that. Especially in front of Rose.

A broad smile lit up Donna's face. "Then you and me should get on fine."

The handshake was abruptly ended by Rose plucking his hand from within Donna's grasp. "That's enough," she quietly chastised him. More loudly, she remarked, "You'll get to meet Donna when she joins us next Monday. We expect great things of her as your PA."

Not a guarded threat at all, Donna noted to herself as she smiled at the woman, because we can't encourage friendly working conditions. Apparently. "And I hope to fulfil them," Donna confidently trilled.

"Then I'll see you on Monday, Donna," the Doctor stated.

He turned to pick up a prawn vol-au-vent from the offered buffet full of nibbles, but Rose grasped his hand. "No such rubbish for you," she decided. "I'll take you out to have a proper lunch." She then told the other people in the room, "Graham will see to your needs and I'll see you all shortly. Welcome again to Vitex."

In a flurry of movement, the couple were soon gone, and Donna was left with Bev to politely discuss what had just happened.

./-\\.

A few days later a special package was delivered to the Noble household.

"What's all that?" Sylvia asked her daughter as she opened a large white envelope and pulled out a huge wodge of papers.

They both stared at the writing in amazement.

"It's all the dos and don'ts for my new job," Donna answered, having skimmed through a couple of pages. "Apparently, I can't do human sacrifices on company grounds," she joked.

"Shame. You'll miss doing that," Sylvia teased back. "What about wearing your scuba diving gear?"

"Well, it says I always have to dress appropriately," Donna noted, "so one flood, and I'm covered."

"Joking aside, is it far enough away?" Sylvia worried. "Will you be safe?"

"I'll be right in the heart of the countryside, Mum," Donna reassured her. "Not even near a bus route; I checked on Google maps. Lance won't be able to find me."

Unable to voice her emotions, Sylvia hugged her in relief. Her daughter would finally be safe for a while.

./-\\.

Be there by nine o'clock sharp, the letter confirming her employment had said so Donna had booked herself into a local bed and breakfast the night before, just to make sure. It wouldn't do to create a bad impression on her first day by being late. Her hosts at the B&B had never heard of Dr John Smith, but they certainly knew of Vitex, the Tyler family and Rose herself. Her reputation was bolstered by the tabloid press, who loved to speculate on her love life and the mysterious man she sometimes had in tow.

In light of this, and the interests of her new employer, that Donna felt it best not to expand on who he was, but merely state he was a close acquaintance of the Tyler family; and then promise to come back with any gossip she found out that might interest them. Not that there was any chance she would do so. It was only idle chitchat, after all. With a cheery wave to thank them for their hospitality, Donna was soon on her way, towards the intimidating gates to Vitex Lodge.

Good job she had asked the taxi driver to drop her off outside the door rather than the bottom of the drive, she decided. A long walk over the gravel in her new stilettos would have twisted her ankle in no time, or at least made her legs ache. That could have spoilt the whole power dressing thing she had attempted for her first impression.

Like her journey in the taxi, Vitex Lodge turned out to be everything she had expected it to be. Functional, old and for those of a certain taste. After a tree-lined drive, the area opened out to reveal formal gardens, and a large house built in the Georgian period. Not quite in the Mr Darcy country style, Donna decided, but she wouldn't mind being able to afford buying it; or even renting it out for a month or two. And the ivy clinging to the brickwork on one end softened the austere effect of the architecture.

That led to thoughts about the gardens, and whether there was also a special vegetable garden somewhere round the back. Her granddad would love to know if there was. "Aw, Gramps. Working here would be right up your street," she murmured as the car finally stopped and the driver jumped out to remove her cases.

Obviously, the taxi driver was out to impress the landed gentry and gain a hefty tip by doing so. She pressed some extra money into his hand nevertheless, and ignored his reaction by keeping her gaze upon the house, trying to work out the lie of the land.

"Here goes," she geed herself up by saying, and then rang the ornate bell by the front door.

No doubt they would hate her trying to enter the house via the main entrance rather than the servants' entrance, but blow that. Either she entered here as an equal or they could forget it. To her surprise, it wasn't some old retainer who opened the door but Dr Smith himself.

Much of the time he had spent with Rose on the interview day had been filled with her singing the praises of his new personal assistant. Part of his joy had been letting Rose waffle on enthusiastically; but he was also intensely curious about this woman who would soon be joining him as his work and business partner.

The first thing he noted as he opened the front door was that she had altered her hairstyle. It no longer softly swept towards her jawline but was straighter and more severe. He liked the focused business air it gave her; and the colour, obviously. You could almost call it a fetish; him liking ginger hair. It was certainly her defining quality, if you ignored her bust. But with statistics like she carried around on her chest, it was quite hard to do any such ignoring. He did allow himself to have a slight moment of appreciation instead.

"Welcome," he announced, grinning broadly. "Do come in."

"Hello! Lovely house you've got," she greeted him.

"Oh, this?" He vaguely swivelled his finger to encompass the house. "It isn't mine, it's Rose's."

She followed him into the entrance hall, and couldn't avoid looking up to take in all the painted decoration that swirled over the ornate ceiling. "Where's your real home then?" she wondered.

Beckoning her further into the house, he admitted, "I haven't got one. I'm a bit of a traveller. Always have been."

"That implies you have no roots, but you must have grown up somewhere," Donna argued as they entered a room that overlooked a hedged lawn. "One place must hold special memories."

In front of a large window sat an antique inlaid desk. Dr Smith indicated that she sat herself in the armed seat before it, and then walked around the window side to sit in a leather office chair. "Gallifrey," he mumbled, and then rang a silver bell sitting on the desktop. "My family came from Gallifrey."

That sounded oddly familiar. "Is that Ireland or Scotland?" she asked.

"Yes." He grimaced as he denied the existence of several memories and then changed the subject. "Have you come far?"

Ah, he didn't want to talk about it, she mentally observed. And who could blame him? He'd only just met her, after all. There'd be time for all that later. "A small B&B just up the road in Greater Loxham; and before that, Chiswick," she replied. "Not exactly a country estate but full of good, down to earth people."

A little defensive, he noted. Wanting to reassure her, he remarked, "I'm sure I shall find that out very soon." He then rang the silver bell again, a bit more peeved this time. "Sorry. I was going to offer you some tea or coffee, but no one seems to be answering."

"Never mind," she consoled him. "I'm sure we can rustle up something if we really wanted to. So, come on, where else will I be working? I want the whole grand tour."

"Right!" he exclaimed, jumping from his seat. "Of course. You will curious to see everything. Sorry, I'm still rather new at this sort of thing."

"Don't worry, you're doing fine," she soothed. "I'm used to going into new places and sussing them out. Anything I need to know about, I will ask."

He had rather gathered that impression of her already. "In that case, shall we?" He invited her to accompany him with a gesture towards the door. "This is my office but there is a smaller room for you to work in, should you want to."

Indeed there was an antechamber, decked out with a computer terminal, phone, printer and filing cabinets. "It all seems in order," she noted.

"And this is my personal library," he pointed out as they entered a room lined with bookcases. "All of these shelves hold my works," he proudly stated, indicating one particularly large bookcase.

Awed, she burst out with, "Blimey! Did you write all these books? You must whack them out like nobody's business."

"I'm very productive, yes," he agreed, loving her reaction.

She leaned closer to peer at some of the titles. One of them read: 'The Wilds of Outer Tima' whilst another was entitled: 'Along The Ridge of the Tears'. "And they're all travel books?"

"Not as such," he countered. "There is an element of the travel guide, along with a historical feature or two, but I deal with alien invasions normally. I have quite a following in the science fiction fandom."

Standing up straight again, she nodded her acceptance of this. "The foreign bit is merely a backdrop, I take it?"

He smiled in amusement. "You could say that. I'd like to think it is integral to the plot."

She recalled something stated back when she was interviewed for the job. "Changing the subject slightly…" After a slight hesitation, she queried, "What about the living in part Miss Tyler mentioned?"

Recognising where the thought might have sprung from, he replied, "That is also integral, to your job since you will have to travel with me to various countries, to research locations and local mythologies."

"That's exactly what I'd hoped it would be," she confessed. But an intrusively negative thought reared its head. "We'd better not be visiting a load of old quarries."

"Why?" he asked, surprised by the warning.

"Because that's where most science fiction dramas on the telly seem to end up."

A laugh formed on his lips. "Then I promise not to drag you into a quarry."

"It's a deal!" she enthused. "Is there anywhere else to see?" she encouraged him to continue the tour.

"Would you like to see the room upstairs that has been set aside for you?" he offered.

Not that he was suddenly fantasising about getting her alone in a bedroom. Not at all.

"Lead on, Macduff." She followed him up the large sweeping staircase.

Everything in this place seemed to be out to impress any casual visitors, so she didn't feel stupid for being affected by all the beauty around her. Ogling his pert bottom, on the other hand, made her feel very guilty.

Moments later, he opened a door and ushered her in. "This is yours."

"Ooh, this is nice," she remarked as she sought desperately to take everything in about the room. She walked towards the window to peer out. "Has it got much of a view?" She sighed in disappointment. "Alright, I didn't want to be distracted by anything that wasn't dustbins anyway."

"Dustbins?" He peered out the window too, and scowled. "What a boring view. I do apologise. I shall speak to Rose later and get it changed."

"Honestly, it's okay," Donna insisted. "I'm just a glorified servant when all's said and done. My mother would say it suits me to a tee."

"No no no. This isn't right," he argued. "You are not 'just' anything, so I won't have you say so."

"Please Dr Smith, don't make a fuss on my behalf," she begged. "Your fiancée chose this room carefully."

"My what? Fiancée?!" he spluttered. "She is nothing of the sort. Where did you get that idea?"

Her. The tabloids. Anyone who'd ever spoken to her... "I dunno. Just got that impression somehow," Donna apologised. "Sorry."

"Rose is my friend," he tightly maintained.

"Shouldn't you at least be calling her your girlfriend?" she wondered.

"Why?"

"Because she is. Duh!"

He pinked up; right to the tips of his ears. "No, I wouldn't use that term."

For the love of…! What is wrong with men? "Are you together or not?"

"Erm. Yes, sort of," he coyly acknowledged, rubbing his neck with one hand. "I certainly said that to Martha."

Who?! "Who's Martha?"

"My last assistant," he supplied. "She was brilliant, and worked here as a research assistant to gain her PhD." After a reflective sniff, he added, "She fancied me. That's why I said Rose and I were an item."

Donna could imagine that fancying lark going down really well with his girlfriend. "Did Rose get that memo about Martha?"

He waved to the vacant room, to denote its emptiness. "That's why you have been employed, to replace her."

"Oh, I see. A 'no fraternising with the boss' policy," she noted; pretending she didn't know beforehand. "Well, you're safe with me."

That piqued his curiosity. "Why is that?"

"You'd never fancy me in a million years and you're a long streak of nothing," she confidently stated. "Not going to happen. Ever."

"Of course," he reluctantly agreed, looking down at himself. "I was told I'm a little bit foxy."

"Is that in a Basil Brush sort of a way?" she laughed. When he looked crestfallen at her comment, she quickly amended, "Sorry, didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I open my gob and immediately put my foot in it. Then again, I'm always good for a laugh, I'm told. About all I'm good for. Anyway, where's the bathroom? I need to freshen up before we get down to it,"

His eyes went wide. "Down to what?"

"Work, silly!" she chastised him. "Your brain! Did you accidentally put it in the wrong wash this morning?"

"Obviously," he murmured to her departing back.

He'd have to fight this, this unwanted attraction. Work always came first.

./-\\.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** the song mentioned can be found on youtube with the end bit /watch?v=av0QpbAXHq8

* * *

 **Part 3**

.

Things hadn't too badly for a first day, Donna considered. So far, she had unpacked, sorted out a few things in her work space, and had just considered nipping up to her room to collect a magazine to read before returning to her office to finish for the evening. There was a deckchair out on the patio with her name on it, waiting for her to go and relax in the last dregs of the late afternoon sunshine.

Halfway up to her room, she peeped out of the large window that overlooked the turn in an impressive set of stairs that led towards the back of the house. Movement by the garage area caught her attention, so she leaned against the balustrade and unashamedly looked through the ancient stained-glass patterning full of heraldic shields. Down below on the driveway, Rose stepped gracefully out of an expensive car, to be met by Dr Smith, who greeted her with a sweet kiss. Watching them, Donna scowled in disgust.

"Not his girlfriend," she sneered as anger swelled within. "In a pig's eye she isn't, the lying toad! Oh well," she sighed, turning from the window in order to return to her work area; all hope of relaxing now dashed. "At least he is just like every other bloke I've ever known. He'd lie through his back teeth if he thought it'd gain some sympathy from me. Luckily, he's just helped me pull myself together and see his intentions for what they really are. We all need being distracted from loneliness."

"Did you say something, Miss Noble?" the housekeeper asked as she passed by on the stairs.

"No, Mrs Kendal." Donna squirmed in embarrassment for a second. The housekeeper held a pile of clean bedlinen in her arms, and Donna gained the distinct impression that she was rather miffed at being interrupted from her duties. "Just talking to myself out loud, like you do."

Give her her due, Mrs Kendal managed to not roll her eyes in dismay, before giving Donna a nod of acknowledgement then carrying on as usual.

Now heading back to the office, Donna mentally told herself off for causing an unnecessary scene. Typical of her, really. Her mother would have found plenty to moan about.

From far off she could hear Rose's excited voice in the hallway, and envied the younger woman for actually having such a relationship in her life. Not everyone could be as lucky. Hadn't her own love life gone pear-shaped in next to no time? Still deep in her thoughts, she almost walked straight into a blonde middle-aged woman.

"Who are you?" she blurted out in surprise at the stranger.

The woman carefully looked Donna up and down, taking in every aspect of her tailored appearance. "I'm Jackie Tyler, Rose's mother. You must be the new PA."

Recognising the name, Donna immediately offered a hand to shake. "That's me. Guilty as charged. Hello, I'm Donna Noble."

"You sound like just what he needed," Jackie remarked as she let go of the proffered handshake. "My Rose has been having a terrible job keeping him in hand."

'Nope, not going to make the obvious joke,' Donna warned herself. "Has she?" she sympathetically wondered. "Well, I'm here now to get him in order. It's what I'm best at."

"So I hear," Jackie agreed. "Why don't we let them have a little alone time together, and you and me can compare notes?"

A possible friend and ally? This might be exactly what she needed. "I'd love to," Donna warmly replied.

She followed Jackie into a small parlour and sat down on a sofa in front of a coffee table when invited to.

"This used to be the morning room," Jackie supplied, looking round at the antique décor. "It's all rather posh for my tastes but they seem to like it."

"Do you live here too?" Donna queried. For all she knew the Moscow State Circus might live in the cellar as well. Nobody had informed her of any other inhabitants.

"No," Jackie drawled in disbelief. "They like to keep themselves to themselves. Like little lovebirds they are. Can't normally wait to get rid of me."

"Surely not," Donna readily sympathised. "If you don't mind me saying so, you don't look old enough to have a daughter Rose's age."

Jackie laughed with delight. "Thanks. I'll have to tell my Pete that. We recently celebrated my fortieth birthday, our twenty-second anniversary, and Rose turned twenty. It's all been happening lately."

'Twenty!' Donna shrieked in her mind. But Jackie soon pulled her from that horrified thought.

"It's nice having someone else my age being around for a change," Jackie remarked.

"Almost. I'm thirty-five," Donna informed her, trying to not bite back with the information. "Blimey, you married young!"

Jackie shrugged in explanation. "As I told my Rose, when you know someone's right for you, you know. Of course, I wasn't pleased about her going off with a man almost old enough to be her father but she don't see it that way. Pete and me were separated for a long time when she was growing up."

'Obviously,' Donna wanted to agree, since Jackie's accent didn't fit such a stately home for a start; but she kept wisely schtum on the subject. "Must be nice to have him back," she commented instead.

There was a nod. "What about you? Haven't you got someone?" Jackie asked, and leaned forward to hear the gossip.

"No, not anymore," Donna gladly supplied; reminding herself to go gender neutral. "Got rid of them as soon as I could. It all started out well, and then things began to go a bit violent. Suddenly it was all 'where have you been?', 'who did you talk to?', and accusations about cheating. I have never cheated on anyone in my life and don't intend to. If I have a problem in a relationship, I'm the type to air it long before it can slip into 'comfort from other people' territory; if you see what I mean." Jackie was nodding along compassionately, so Donna felt able to confess a great deal more. "It was airing my views that got me my first black eye; complaining about that, my split lip, and soon I had plenty more to moan about."

"I'm so sorry," Jackie comforted her with a brief touch on the hand. "At least you've got out."

"Yeah. That took a moonlight flit after a quashed police intervention, following a knife attack. After that I made sure I took some self-defence classes, I can tell you." She managed a half laugh but she was sure Jackie saw through it. "Never want to go back to that sort of relationship. Love is for other people. I used to be so strong, but they broke me for a long time. For that, I'll never forgive them."

"You've got the chance of a fresh start now," Jackie encouraged her. "Who knows, maybe on your travels with the Doctor you'll find a good-looking foreigner."

"I'm almost depending on it," Donna jokingly remarked. "Doesn't it worry you that he travels about so much?"

"Not really," Jackie admitted. "Rose needs to form a life that isn't dependent on him and have the chance to grow up a bit more without him and adult responsibilities breathing down her neck. I don't want her to go through being married with a kid by the age of twenty-one like I did. I'm not saying I didn't want her, or anything like that. She's my world. But if I could spare her that sort of hardship of being a single parent, I would."

Donna smiled at this wonderful, soft spoken, probably underrated woman. Why couldn't her own mother have been as supportive at that age? "And I'm sure you shall."

./-\\.

Rose leaned towards the Doctor over the crisp white linen tablecloth of the dining room. She had considered taking him to a restaurant, but she wanted some alone time instead. She was eager to discuss her new acquisition for him before getting down to other matters. Hopefully, he would want to reward her in kind. "So, what did you think of your new assistant today? Will you be able to get on with her?"

"You mean Donna? Yes, we got on fine," he quickly confirmed. "She certainly knows her way around an office. In ten minutes flat, she started to reorganise me and had the printer working. First time that thing has worked for me in months."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Rose enthused, "Good. I'm glad it's going well. It's about time someone sorted you out. And at least we won't have her setting her cap at you like Martha did."

He raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Why are you so sure she won't fall for my charms?" he risked asking.

"Because she bats for the other side," Rose explained. "I'm more likely to catch her eye. Unless you can suddenly turn into a woman, of course." She smiled coquettishly.

"Oh." For some strange reason he felt his heart drop in disappointment. It wasn't as though he had formed an attachment yet or anything. Hadn't even had a chance to.

Wanting to tease him further, Rose commented, "I'm sure you can cope with not having someone fall all over you for a change."

"It'll be different," he answered before rational thought took over. "I mean... She is nothing like you." Nope, not at all.

"Good. Because that means I can get you all to myself," Rose schmoozed, tiptoeing her fingers across the tablecloth towards him.

He captured her hand within his, enjoying the warmth of her touch; needing the contact like a plant needs the sun. "Yes," he faintly agreed.

./-\\.

Donna huddled further into her coat and gazed enviously towards the cars driving along the nearby A303. "It's a bit cold here," she commented.

"But totally worth it," the Doctor enthused, bending to look closer at a rock; and flashing her a broad grin. "Where else could you get such a sense of history?"

"From a book, in a nice warm library," she tartly replied as an icy gust of wind tried to invade her lower portions.

"Now where's the fun in that?" he wondered, standing up straight. "You were extremely keen to come to Stonehenge when we were in the car."

"That's before I knew it would be the equivalent of standing in a wind tunnel," she grumbled. "Seriously, why would a mythical creature want to hang about here for long? Within half an hour it'd decide it was better off at home, eating a Pot Noodle in front of Strictly."

"Donna! Oh ye of little faith," he admonished. "Can't you feel it? All the wonder and intrigue of this ancient place. For all we know, King Arthur and his knights sleep beneath these stones."

"Then let's leave them to finish their sleep in peace." She pressed a button on the headset they'd been given. "According to this, Arthur was never here," she commented, pointing to the recorded tour guide she'd been listening to. "And I still think that rock looks like a moray eel."

"Well…," he drawled, "I'll give you that. It does make you wonder if it was deliberate."

"That's not all I'm wondering," she muttered to herself as she bounced on the spot to keep warm.

A small group of children were lead pass them. As they politely apologised for being in the group's way, two stragglers at the back eyed them with wary interest. One was a boy aged about nine and next to him, grasping his hand, was a girl, aged about seven.

"It's a bit nippy here, isn't it," Donna remarked to them. "I hope you are dressed up all nice and warm."

The boy and girl both slightly shook their heads in answer, as though afraid to give voice to their feelings; and then started to run the few paces to catch up with their group. Almost immediately the girl tripped over her own feet and fell, heavily, onto the tarmac pathway.

"Jenny!" the boy cried in horror as a thin wail rose up from the girl's lips. "Are you alright?"

Jenny sniffed in a sob, trying to be brave, but her knee hurt like crazy and no doubt she would be later told off for delaying the others. "No," she despondently answered. "It's bleeding."

"Here, let me have a look," the Doctor offered, squatting down to both children sitting on the path.

"He's a doctor," Donna helpfully added when the two children looked to her for confirmation it was okay to let him look, "so he knows all about these things." She knelt too and offered Jenny a tissue to wipe her nose. "You'll soon feel better."

"Nothing's broken, it's just a graze that's bled a bit," the Doctor cheerily assured Jenny. "Do you have a plaster on you, Donna?"

"Yeah. Hang on a tick." Donna quickly rifled through the contents of her handbag and soon found a useful Band-Aid. "Here you go," she said as she placed it onto his palm. "Your knee will be as good as new in next to no time," she comforted Jenny, "especially as you've got your little friend here to help you."

"I'm her brother," the boy huffed impatiently. "Why does no one think I am?"

"Perhaps the fact you aren't blonde but she is, and you look nothing alike," the Doctor commented, finishing off his task with a flourish. "All done!" He then looked up at Donna's disgruntled face, and asked, "What?"

"A bit rude," she stage-whispered. "Apologise to him."

Astonished, he immediately complied. "Oh. Sorry, Jenny's brother."

"His name is Ben," Jenny petulantly pointed out.

"Okay. Sorry, Ben," the Doctor amended. "Did you hurt yourself? You've got a bit of a bruise there." He pointed towards the boy's neck.

Ben instantly pulled his coat tighter to hide it. "No, I haven't," he denied. "We'd better catch the others up, Jenny." He helped her onto her feet and then grasped her hand firmly. "Thank you, Mr and Mrs erm... We have to go."

A glazed expression appeared on their young faces.

"I'm not a 'Mrs'," Donna retorted, but the pair weren't listening any more. They were too busy hurrying away.

"They seem to think we're married," the Doctor quietly noted. "Never had that happen before."

"Me neither," she agreed. "That was all a bit weird at the end there," Donna commented to the Doctor in an equally low voice.

"Very," he agreed, keeping the two children in sight. "Rather unearthly. Come on. Let's follow them."

She placed a hand on his forearm to halt his movements. "You can't do that!" she hissed. "They'd have us up for being paedophiles, or child harassment at the very least."

He gazed back at her thoughtfully. "You're concerned. I'm concerned. When you think about it, we're standing in the middle of all the lay lines you could possibly shake a stick at in this country. That is more than a mere coincidence. So, we are going to investigate it."

"If you say so," she mumbled, following him towards the buildings that flanked the entranceway to the stones. In many ways she was quite relieved he was insisting they took this seriously. That is, she did, until he reached back to take her hand in his. "You're holding my hand," she felt the need to point out.

"Yes, I often do this with my companions," he replied without shame. He then turned to ask, "Is this a problem?" He didn't want to let go but if she disapproved he would do so immediately.

"Only if you get ideas," she blustered. Not that he was likely to. Instead, it suddenly felt closer to the relationship young Jenny and Ben had displayed. It was an act of comfort and unity rather than one seeking romance. "No, it's fine. I was just a bit surprised, that's all. I haven't held someone's hand like this since I was a kid."

"Surely you held your ex's hand?" he queried.

To his surprise she side-stepped his question with a shake of her head. "This is a bit like that film," she commented instead.

He frowned. "What film?"

"The Snowman," she answered, and gained the laugh she'd been hoping for.

She could have done without him breaking into " We're walking in the air! " but it was inevitable really; and irresistible to join in with as they giggled together.

They soon spied Jenny and her brother in the museum shop, along with the gaggle of children they had been with. All the others were excitedly chatting away, showing possible purchases to each other to consider; all of them except Jenny and Ben. Instead, they stood apart from the other children as though they were waiting for a bus. But Donna did notice Jenny glancing longingly towards a postcard display by the side of her. As Donna watched her, she realised that it was one particular picturesque postcard that caught the girl's attention, and she assumed the child could not afford it.

Walking boldly over to Jenny's side, Donna commented, "It's nice that one, isn't it. Do you think I should buy it?"

Jenny lifted her gaze. "Yes, Miss. It's very pretty."

A retort about looking single stayed on Donna's lips, but it propelled her towards the queue. "I think I'll get it then." She smiled when the Doctor approached her with some other items to add to her purchases, nodding in unspoken agreement. "Was there anything you wanted for yourself?" she asked him as she neared the till.

Moments later they were leaving the shop with a bag of goodies, and passed the forlorn pair from earlier.

"Here you go, Sweetheart," Donna said to them, pushing the carrier bag into Jenny's hands. "You forgot these."

Both children peered into the bag with glee. "Thank you, Miss!" Ben called after her. A broad smile lit up his pallid face.

The sight of his car sitting in the car park lifted his spirits even further as they walked through warmer air. "I'd call that a good day's work," the Doctor stated.

"You do realise that you passed up on two bars of chocolate and a matchbox model of Stonehenge, don't you?" Donna teased.

"Maybe," he agreed, "but.." He took hold of her hand again. "…I seem to have discovered other treasures."

"If you think my purse is a bottomless pit of goodies, you've got another think coming," she joked.

"Then we will stop off somewhere and I'll treat us to dinner. How does that sound?" he enticed her, pushing his tongue behind his top teeth.

"It'll do," she pretended to allow; but she could feel herself gradually falling under his spell.

./-\\.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4**

.

Despite it being several days now, the image of Jenny and Ben's little faces continued to haunt Donna; especially in her dreams. Which left her with one small problem: how could she persuade the Doctor to seek them out?

Subtly, when he was away from her part of the office, she made enquiries, asking English Heritage which schools had booked a visit to Stonehenge for that day, closely followed by googling primary schools to compare their uniform with the ones the two children had worn. From the standard of their personal clothing, she had gained the impression that their parents weren't exactly well off. Poor, in fact.

It wasn't as though she had been shirking her duties. All her tasks were up to date, all notes neatly typed up, she'd laughed at his pathetic jokes all morning, and had even pretended to be interested when Rose had turned up before lunch with exciting 'news' about her latest boots purchase. All fundamental stuff, you must agree. So what harm could it do to use office equipment to do some research of her own? None, as far as she could tell.

Yet for some unknown reason, when Dr Smith had reappeared from his lunch date, she had hastily shut down her open tab displaying the 'desires' of St Gladys Primary School.

"Anything interesting?" he queried as he swooped passed her desk.

"No, not really. Just idly looking, like you do," she nonchalantly answered. "It's not as though I have a school fetish…"

He paused mid-step and turned to gaze questioningly at her. "Oh? Not suspicious in the slightest, Donna. Next you'll be telling me you are researching a school uniform to dress up in for fun times." He then leaned over her to bring up the dismissed tab, hoping to find even more to tease her with. "That's familiar," he quietly remarked. "Identical to the one young Ben and Jenny were wearing."

"Is it?" she fake-questioned. "What a coincidence."

"Yeah," he drawled; amused by the flush that had rapidly spread over her skin. "It's almost as if you had deliberately hunted them down." He then peered at the school name on the website. "St Gladys," he read out loud. "Okay, what's so special about them?"

She gulped before answering, "It's part church school, part orphanage. Their speciality is foundlings."

"Hmm." His countenance went dark. "Good work, Donna," he praised, adding in a pat on her shoulder. "Any chance of you rustling us up some tea before we get back to work?"

"Certainly, Doctor," she obliged. "I'll be right with you."

Strange, she thought as she fussed about with tea mugs. She'd expected him to go ballistic about her search, but she wasn't quite sure how to judge his reaction. One thing she did know, she'd have to confess her concerns for the children; it would be daft not to.

He was almost lying in wait for her. "Can I ask while I think of it, why did you tell Jenny I was a doctor?"

"Well, you _ARE_ a doctor," she justified. "So I said it."

"I'm not…" Trying again, he stated, "I'm not a medical doctor."

"I know," she acknowledged. "I just thought saying you were a doctor sounded much better than 'this is my friend the doctor of science' because I wouldn't have found that a great deal of help. And she seemed to like you, as a doctor, dealing with her knee, whereas a science type doctor might have had her screaming for the police because you can't apply a quark to a scraped knee."

"A fair point," he noted. "Do you even know what a quark is?"

"I've heard of them," she retorted. "I think that's more than enough for now."

To her surprise, he didn't even mention the children any further; instead, he went off on a complete tangent.

"It's time we had another jaunt out, don't you think? Somewhere foreign. Yes. That sounds right." He sat back in his chair with his fingers steepled in front of him. "Our first trip abroad together should be somewhere hot. Erm... Majorca," he decided as though on a whim when in fact he had carefully thought it through. "There's been some activity on the north side of the island."

Donna quirked an eyebrow. "What sort of activity? If it's volcanic you can count me out."

"No, it's alien activity," he assured her. "Some sort of troll."

She couldn't help giggling for a second. Trolls only existed in fairy stories, as far as she was concerned, and weren't aliens but cantankerous people. "Escaped from the Internet, has it?"

"You may joke," he cautioned with a point of his finger, "but folklore about trolls doesn't exist for nothing."

"But trolls are Scandinavian, aren't they?" she pondered. "Or from 'Harry Potter'. Maybe 'The Hobbit'. Perhaps it's on holiday," she continued to theorise. "A troll in a bikini. Ew!"

That was not something he had thought to consider. Bikinis. Now there was an idea. "We will have to book flights to Palma and a suitable hotel."

"My mate Tony has a villa out there," she informed him, "in a small village up in the mountains towards the north. I could ask him, if you like. Mates' rates, and all that."

"That would be wonderful!" he enthused. "Let's book a car as well."

"You're spoiling me," she joked. "Hang on. Can you drive? Because I'm suddenly getting a chauffeur vibe coming on here."

"I can drive," he petulantly stated. "It's been a while but I'm sure I can cope."

"I'll make it joint drivers then," she decided. "Give me ten minutes and I'll have it all booked."

./-\\.

"I'm really sorry my mate's villa wasn't available," she chattered on. "If I'd've known beforehand I could have booked it weeks ago."

"It's alright Donna. I'm not angry about that or with you," he tersely replied.

"Okay." She swivelled in her seat to gaze at him directly. "What is it then? Because you ain't happy. Far from it."

"I'm fine," he insisted.

"No, you're not," she countered. "Nobody sits like that on an aeroplane at the start of a new adventure unless something is wrong."

"The truth is..." He sighed in resignation. "I just don't like flying," he whispered.

"Seriously?" she wondered. "But you've travelled all over the world."

"Keep your voice down," he pleaded as an embarrassed flush pinked his cheeks. "Yes, that maybe so but... I don't like admitting this."

"I'd have never guessed," she sarcastically muttered.

He ignored that to continue, "I've never had an easy time doing the actual 'travelling' part."

"I'm sorry," she instantly sympathised. "How can I help you?"

"Would you...? Could you...? This is daft," he huffed, more annoyed at himself then her.

"Go on. Say it," she encouraged. "Although I withhold the right to do anything that's even remotely kinky."

He chuckled despite himself. She was right, she was always good for a laugh and he suspected she did it all deliberately to put him at ease. "I need you to hold my hand," he finally confessed, holding out his palm towards her.

"That's it? Nothing else you'll expect me to hold?" she queried, readily taking his hand in hers.

"Nothing else, I promise," he vowed, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Then from now on I'm your official handholderer. Please feel free to give me a suitable pay rise," she cheekily added. "Is this the true reason why you didn't want to fly first class, that you didn't want to sit all on your own without physical contact?"

"It's like you can read me like a book," he supplied, now relaxing even more. "I really appreciate you doing this for me."

"Think nothing of it," she modestly dismissed. "Any friend would do this."

Having a meal served meant that he had to let go for a while. "Is it okay to still...?" He waved his hand at Donna in a vague request to continue their contact without saying the words out loud in case the air steward heard him.

"Of course," she agreed. "And if you like, it might help to have a little doze. Put your head on my shoulder."

"If you're sure," he sought to confirm, although he'd already placed his head next to her neck. "Mmmm. You're all soft and comfy."

"That'd better not be a dig at me being fat," she joked.

"Never," he sighed. "You're just right. All lovely and..."

"And?"

Oops! He'd almost said something he wouldn't be able to take back. "And friendly," he tried out instead.

"Friendly," she repeated. "Not sure how to take but as long as you don't dribble on my jacket we'll be fine."

He felt it best not to say anything after that, and happily drifted off to sleep surrounded by her scent.

./-\\.

"Sir? Sir! Excuse me, madam, but can you wake your husband up so that he can do up his seat belt, please? We're coming into land," the air stewardess pleasantly requested.

Donna was so surprised that she immediately went to deny the relationship. "Oh, we're not..." But the woman had moved on to the next unclipped passenger. "Doctor," she quietly prodded him instead by whispering directly into his ear. "Time to put your seatbelt back on."

"What? Oh!" He gasped awake and stared at her in shock as only the just woken up can truly do. "Where are we?"

"We're about to land," she fondly answered. "Did you have a nice sleep?"

"Fine thanks." He sat up a little bit more and adjusted his jacket. "Did I miss anything?"

"Only us being mistaken for being married, again. No biggie."

"Again?" He scrunched his face up. "Getting to be a habit, Donna."

"Tell me about it."

There was a faint turbulence bump of the aircraft, and he instantly stiffened; gripping the now lowered armrest. "I hate this bit," he confessed, staring ahead in his panic.

Logic wouldn't work in this situation, she knew, but distraction might. "I've got you," she reminded him, clasping his nearest hand, "so just hold on tight and I won't let you go."

"You might regret this," he warned.

But it fell on stony ground. "Nah! As if I could regret anything to do with you. Unless you'd actually slipped into my cleavage earlier when you fell asleep like I thought you'd do."

His head shot round and he blinked fervently. "How...?" He'd certainly enjoyed the view when he'd rested against her but slipping lower had only been a dream. "I didn't..."

"I thought I could distract you with my boobs," Donna trilled, to his amazement. "Works every time."

Well, he had to concede that he'd stopped thinking of crashing for a second. "What would you have done if it hadn't worked?"

"Let you come back and haunt me, probably." She shrugged. "It was either that or tell you about one of my disastrous dates."

"That might have worked too," he admitted on a gulp. "If it was sexual, of course."

"As if I'd tell you that, on a plane full of people," she playfully admonished him, giving his shoulder a tiny shove. "No, that's late-night drinking over a glass or two of wine sort of stuff." Then she added in a wink for good measure.

"Perhaps that can be arranged," he cheekily suggested, and enjoyed being swatted on the arm for his troubles.

Yes, now that he relaxed in her company even further he knew he would enjoy this little trip.

"Anyway, as I said earlier, remember, I've got you now and won't let go." She squeezed his hand in emphasis.

At that moment the plane landed with a bump and the whole of the passengers sighed with audible relief.

"Thank you," he enthused once the plane taxied to a halt. "I appreciate it." It was only at that point that he let go of her hand.

"Any time." She smiled in return.

./-\\.

"Do you think someone forgot to pay the electricity bill?" Donna asked as she gazed around the concourse. "A bit dark. Almost creepy even."

"Perhaps they are hiding something," the Doctor suggested. "Have you got the hire papers on you?"

"Yes," she drawled in irritation, but she rifled through the contents of her handbag to pull them out anyway. "As if I wouldn't. Can you see Avis Hire yet?"

"Over there," he pointed out as a sign came into view.

It led them outside into the bright sunshine, trundling their suitcases behind them.

"God, it's hot here," she noted as they left the confines of the airport and the shade of an overhanging canopy. "Dunno about you but I'm melting. Hang on a mo'."

"Donna!" he gasped in shock as she began to disrobe; and quickly averted his gaze.

"Keep your hair on. I've got a camisole under this lot, so I'm covered," she berated him. "Anyone would think you'd never seen someone take their jacket off before."

"I was surprised. That's all," he defended himself. "For all I knew you only had a bra on underneath that blouse you took off."

"I've got sandals to change into too in here," she mischievously informed him before altering her footwear. "How are you coping in that suit of yours?"

"A little bit sweaty, I must admit," he answered.

"You'd better have shorts, a sun hat and sunglasses in that suitcase," she warned him, "or I shall personally take you shopping to get some. I've brought plenty of sun cream, so we're covered for that."

"Oh, I don't think...," he started to deny needing any such clothing.

"No, you obviously don't. Prawn. Fancy thinking you'd get away with a suit here. Have you never travelled to the Mediterranean before?"

"Not often. Perhaps back when I was very young."

"It's just like having a child," she told no one in particular. "I should have realised I'd be on nanny duty." They entered the nearby multi-storey car park where the rental cars were held. "Here we are. I'll soon have you at the hotel and down for your afternoon nap," she joshed.

He contemplated whether to make a joke about that, but the man sat in the rental booth didn't look as though he would appreciate it. Perhaps he would save that for later, when he and Donna were in the hire car? As for the hotel suite of rooms, perhaps it would reveal other treats in store for them. Only time would tell.

./-\\.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** sorry for the delay in updating this but I haven't been feeling well. But I've had a large dose of family & baby cuddles to help.

* * *

 **Part 5**

.

The Doctor had gone off to talk to Rose on the phone and Donna had gone to the bathroom to try and not throw up. Not that the place they were staying in was horrible or anything; far from it. The view was spectacular, and the standard of their five-star accommodation could not be faulted. No, that wasn't the problem. The oppressive tab keeping was, normally. Most of it seemed just plain _wrong_ , for some reason. Fake, even.

Okay, truth be told, it completely got on her nerves, all that gush played out for her benefit. I mean, anyone who loves someone else that much shouldn't have to keep parading it in front of people's faces. Instead, it should be obvious by the way they treated each other.

It wasn't that she disliked Rose, per se, but the whole keeping constant tabs on the Doctor was extremely wearing. Yes, she could understand why Rose had fallen for him hook, line and sinker, even if she wasn't admitting that to herself just yet; but the numerous interruptions throughout her working day made her want to tear her hair out or scream down the phone a caution to leave him the hell alone for five seconds! It was suffocating for her so gawd knows what he made of it. Perhaps he enjoyed that level of attention? Or Rose suffered from a form of OCD? It was possible.

Anyway, she'd managed to go almost five hours without a word from Rose invading her world. It had to end at some point, she supposed. When Donna peeped out of the bathroom door of their suite of rooms, the Doctor was still on the phone, murmuring something or other to Rose. Not an ideal place to find yourself, so she mouthed to him that she was going down to have a look around and then left him on his own to continue whatever he was doing in private.

To her surprise, seconds later he came bounding out of the suite towards her along the corridor. "Where are you going?" he queried.

"Just having a look around, and giving you some space," she replied. "You didn't have to end your call."

"No, that's okay," he countered, falling into step beside her. "We can grab a bite to eat and then come back up to plan out tomorrow properly."

"If you're sure," she continued, leading the way into the empty lift that would take them downwards, "that's fine by me. I wanted to see if they had anything of interest in the hotel shop."

"Ooh. I love a little shop, me," he enthused.

Why didn't that surprise her? "Just don't pester me for sweets," she playfully warned him, and then laughed with delight at his disgusted expression.

./-\\.

After persuading him to buy a pair of sunglasses and some linen mix shorts in the hotel boutique, they booked a table for two in the restaurant and then had a saunter down to the beach. The hotel was mere yards from it, but they practically had the sands to themselves.

Unable to resist, Donna took off her sandals down by the water's edge. "I'm going to have a paddle. Are you coming in too?" she invited.

"No thanks," he answered, pointing at his Converses. "It'd take an age to get these off and then back on again."

"Rightio." She nodded in acknowledgement. "I'll see you in a minute."

"Don't hurry on my account," he begged. "Take your time."

She smiled indulgently at him and then headed into the water. Ahh. It had been too long since she had had the chance to do anything like this. Silently, she promised herself that she would go swimming properly, in the nearby pool or the sea, at the first opportunity.

The Doctor had stood watching Donna kick her bare feet about in the shallows, enjoying herself without being conscious of his gaze. He'd picked a spot beneath a palm tree offering a little bit of shade from the evening sun. Once he returned to the hotel he had promised himself he would change out of his clothing into something cooler.

"Hello."

Shocked at the sultry verbal intrusion, he turned and saw a woman standing near him. In her thirties, he ascertained; attractive with short dark hair, and possibly a tourist from mainland Spain.

"Hello," he politely replied.

"I thought you were English," she commented.

Looking down at himself, it was easy to see why. Not many countries got it as wrong as the British. It tended to be one extreme or the other. "The suit tends to give it away," he agreed.

At that point Donna came charging up the beach towards him. "What time did you say our table is booked for?" she deliberately queried.

"Any moment now," he lied, looking at his watch. They had a good half an hour or so to wait. "Do you think we should…?" He indicated towards the hotel with his head.

"We'd better get a move on then," she noted. "Dunno about you but I'm starving. Say 'bye bye'."

He offered her his arm to hold and obediently said "Goodbye" to the stranger.

"Goodbye," the woman returned. "I hope you and your wife have a lovely evening."

Donna voiced her thanks and let him lead her away. "Who was that?" she asked once they were out of earshot.

"No idea. She just came up and started talking to me," he admitted.

It didn't take much to allow that to be true. "And the wife thing?" she wondered.

"Nothing to do with me," he distanced himself. "That was entirely her assumption."

"Hmm." She considered him; partly wondering why he hadn't openly denied their relationship. Obviously, he wasn't interested in the Spanish woman. "Perhaps we shouldn't have booked a suite of rooms. Makes it look as though we are together."

"Well, we _ARE_ together," he countered, and then caught her questioning gaze. "But in a totally different way… Yes, maybe working in the same rooms is a little misleading."

She deliberately fanned her hand in front of her face; always ready to tease him. "Phew! You're making me all hot with this fine-tuned flirting. Just for that, you can buy me a glass of wine before dinner."

Luckily, he smirked in amusement.

./-\\.

"Feeling any cooler?" she asked him as they sat at their restaurant table an hour later.

The air conditioning certainly helped him, but he had changed into a lighter jacket.

"Much better, thanks." He picked up his full wine glass and carefully sipped it. No one was glancing their way, so that was a plus. It stopped him feeling guilty about any possible misunderstandings. "What do you think of it here?"

"A bit posh. I'll have to practice speaking like everyone else," she proclaimed. "What ho," she tried out on him. "Topping day. Chin-chin!" She raised her own glass in salute to him.

"Don't. Just don't," he quietly cautioned. Why did she feel the need to change her accent?

She quickly closed her mouth again, and would have publicly told him off but this was his territory, not hers. On some level she would have loved to fit in. Shame that wasn't going to happen.

Seeing her sudden crestfallen expression, he wanted to cheer her up; and he knew just the topic. "I've been meaning to ask you. How about, when we get home in a few days, we go and treat ourselves to a visit to St Gladys School? Have ourselves a snoop around."

"Really?" she gasped in delight. "Why would you do that?"

Because you want us to. Because I do too. "There's something fishy about the school. Or at least the children's situation. If I'm wrong, at least we can reassure ourselves that Jenny and Ben are okay."

Donna immediately reached across the table and clasped his hand in gratitude. "I could bloody love you! Thank you," she sincerely expressed. "I'll write the email requesting it as soon as we get back to the room. What excuse do you want me to use?"

"Oh, I think 'visiting author' should suffice, don't you? I can even take along some of my findings to show off, should they want. Kids love horrible creatures, don't they? I'm sure you can construct a suitable cover story."

Now galvanised, her mood brightened considerably.

./-\\.

Early the following morning, they dressed suitably in cream-coloured cotton or linen for boiling hot weather. Donna was pleased to note that he wore his new Bermuda shorts and had an open-necked shirt on. The Doctor was equally pleased that Donna wore tiny shorts that showed off her long lean legs, plus a see-through blouse that revealed her camisole top and a major hint of the underlying cleavage.

Very nice, he thought as he admired her figure.

"Have you got your hat and sunglasses?" she quizzed him.

He pulled out a soft hat from out his shorts pocket and perched his sunglasses on the top of his head. "I'm prepared," he declared.

"Good," she replied, placing her own sunglasses in a similar position. Her straw hat would be donned later. "I've got more sun cream with me, just in case."

Then they headed towards the lift, determined to avail themselves of the early breakfast on offer in the main hotel restaurant; eating heartily just in case they didn't get the chance to stop later in the day.

Having finished eating, Donna popped to the facilities before they left the hotel. There's nothing worse than being caught short when no formal toilets are available; especially for a woman. She'd already promised not to look should the Doctor be caught short somewhere.

Re-entering the restaurant to tell the Doctor she was now finally ready to leave, Donna was amazed to see a pretty young woman in her late twenties avidly flirting with him at their table. She kept sweeping her long chestnut brown hair out of her face, smoothing her hands over her contours to get her short, flared skirt to sit just right on her hips, and reaching out to try and touch his now exposed arm; thanks to him being taken to task over his wardrobe choices and his shortened sleeves.

Wow! What a chancer, Donna thought as she gazed at the woman. You had to give her points for trying. Then Donna reminded herself that a major part of her job was keeping such unwanted attention well away from him. Not that it looked particularly unwanted from his angle since he didn't seem too worried, as usual; merely amused at how hard the girl was trying.

Adding in a deliberate sway to her hips, Donna sauntered over to his chair and nonchalantly leaned against the back of it. She made sure she laid a possessive hand on his shoulder too.

"Hello, I'm Donna, his wife," she smoothly pointed out to the interloper. "That's John, sat sitting there. And you are?" she asked in her sweetest voice.

The young woman had the grace to look chastised from the seat she had stolen. "I'm Megan," she introduced herself. "So, you two are married?" She flicked her gaze between the two Londoners.

"Very," Donna emphasised. "Sickeningly so. Which means I suggest you walk away and find yourself someone else to drape all over. Off you pop!"

"Yes, I will. Sorry," Megan bumbled in embarrassment. "I didn't know. Goodbye Donna. Bye John."

"Goodbye Megan," he returned with a small wave. Having waited for the young woman to skulk away, he eyed Donna suspiciously. "Okay," he slowly drawled. "What was that all about?"

"You mean the 'stopping some little bint snatching you away' bit?" Donna airily sought to confirm. "It's part of my job to look after you. I'm not sure what Rose would make of you chatting up some bit of fluff. So, don't go chasing after anyone else or you'll have me to answer to."

A pleased smile played about on his lips. "Oh really? That might be fun to see."

She shrugged. "All depends on how much you want to hang onto your crown jewels in the future."

"Ouch!" he mockingly winced. "Remind me not to cross you in future."

"Stop acting like a tart and get your bum in gear," she warmly advised. "We've got a troll to find."

"The way you order me about, anyone would think we really are married," he risked teasing; and got thumped on the arm for his troubles.

Walking out to the car, he had to admit to himself that he was loving every minute of this.

./-\\.

Within ten minutes of starting their journey, the Doctor received his first telephone call of the day. Donna rolled her eyes and tried to pretend she could hear every word of their conversation. A bit hard not to at this close range. Strange how he never mentioned being chatted up. Or perhaps not, she mused. At least she had the act of driving to distract her, although she would need him to navigate once they passed the next village. It was alright being given vague directions but there were times you need specifics.

Feeling her growing agitation, the Doctor spoke quickly but carefully into his phone. "I have to go, Rose. We're coming up to a dodgy bit and Donna needs me to read the map. Yes, I'll let you know how it goes. There's no reason for you to worry; Donna is looking after me very well. Speak to you later. Bye. Bye bye." He sheepishly turned his phone off and glanced across at Donna. "What? What are you smirking at?"

"Not your girlfriend indeed," she scoffed. "Who are you kidding!"

"It isn't like…," he began to say in exasperation. But he knew how it looked to everyone, so he changed the subject instead. "We should be coming up to our turn off soon."

She just about managed to resist teasing him with the sound of a whiplash impression. Instead, she accidentally flummoxed him by asking, "Do you want me to take loads of photos to show the kids?"

"Kids? What kids?" he wondered.

"Jenny, Ben and their lot," she explained.

"Ah," he sighed in realisation. "Yes, we should catalogue everything possible."

"So go on then, tell me what to expect," she encouraged, and allowed him to explain where he assumed the troll creatures hung out during the day.

Soon, the mountain they were aiming for loomed in the near distance.

./-\\.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** I have endlessly faffed about with the order of this, so hopefully it finally reads okay.

* * *

 **Part 6**

.

About five small buildings hugged the side of the mountain; liberally smattered about and surrounded by trees. But their attention was on a lone young woman standing by the side of the road.

"Do you think that's her, our guide?" Donna openly wondered as she slowed the car.

"There's only one way to find out," the Doctor replied, and then fully wound down the window. "Hello! Catalina?" he queried.

"Is me," Catalina confirmed.

Donna muttered as she properly parked the car, "Do you think she's got a note from her mum to be absent from school today?"

"Donna!" the Doctor warned. "Play nicely."

She threw him a smirk and then climbed out of the car. "Hello, I'm Donna. Nice to meet you," she greeted the girl.

"Oh yes," Catalina agreed, barely paying attention. "Hello Dr Smith. Follow me."

It must have been the way he took his sunglasses off for a moment and gazed into the distance like a catalogue model that caught the girl's interest, Donna decided. "Yay," she sarcastically muttered to herself. "Yet another one. Thank gawd I don't fancy him."

"Did you say something, Donna?" he immediately wondered.

"No," she replied, following behind him and Catalina along a dusty path that led towards the trees. "Just talking to myself about my next task. You know how it is for us PAs. Nothing beats the never-ending fun."

"Are you suggesting we don't have fun?" he turned to ask. "You can always wait in the car if you like."

"As if I could trust you to cope on your own," she snapped back. "You'd forget to wear your sunglasses or burn like a crisp if I wasn't around."

"Well, yes, that's sort of true," he allowed. "Are you alright?"

"Sorry. I'm feeling a bit hot," she apologised. "Being ginger does me no favours in this heat."

He smiled indulgently. "We will find some shelter in a moment. Can't have you burning to a crisp either."

Donna would have answered but there was a cry of "Dr Smith!" so he returned to walk beside Catalina.

For the next fifteen minutes Catalina talked non-stop asking the Doctor questions and about how she wanted to study in Britain. Apparently, it had long been her dream. Donna wondered if she ought to be making notes about this particularly type of alien life, uncommonly known as 'sponge-off-a-wealthy-bloke-ius'; because she was expecting even stronger hints at any moment that the Doctor should finance Catalina's foreign study dream. The saving thought that made Donna smile was imagining the expression on Rose's face if she ever saw how this girl was fawning all over him.

Eventually they found a bit of shade, and the Doctor made sure Donna was resting within it. "There you go. Can't have my best PA failing suddenly."

"You're all heart," she mocked his gesture. "But I'll pretend you care more about me then your notes. While I think of it, come here." She waved him closer, and then to his surprise, sniffed all around his face. "Do you use Lynx?"

"No, I do not," he huffed. "I use Paul Smith."

"I thought I was in an advert for Lynx for a second, that's why," she justified the action.

"Cheek!" he retorted, but he couldn't stop himself from laughing at her sauciness. "What makes you think I don't have natural animal magnetism of my own?"

"Erm…" She waved her finger about in demonstration. "No little blue birds, baby deer or other animals are desperate to be near you; and this isn't a Disney animation."

"Okay, scrub the magnetism," he playfully agreed. "What about sexual attraction?"

"I honestly couldn't comment."

There followed the loud crack of a piece of wood breaking and then a yelled, "Dr Smith!" as Catalina hit the deck.

"Oh p-l-e-a-s-e," Donna drawled in exasperation. "Don't tell me she's gone and done the whole feeble damsel act by twisting her ankle."

"It might be serious," he defended as he went to race to Catalina's aid.

"And I'm a Dutchman," Donna disparaged.

Honestly, couldn't he see what the girl was doing by having him check her ankle like that?

"Nothing's broken. You've only slightly twisted it," he comforted Catalina, and removed his long fingers from her ankle. "You'll be fine after a short rest." He stood back up from his crouched position and cupped his chin in thought. "Why don't Donna and I carry on while you stay here. You did say we weren't far from the sightings, after all. What do you think, Donna?"

"That's fine with me if Catalina doesn't mind," Donna tried not to brightly reply.

"If I not here when you return, I will go home," Catalina sulkily stated.

But he clearly wasn't being swayed by that pout. "That's all sorted then. We will see you later, Catalina. But if you've gone by the time we get back, thank you for helping us. Donna will be in touch to arrange payment."

Donna smiled her sweetest smile to confirm this would indeed happen. Weird how she was getting loads of practice using that particular smile during the trip. Then the two Londoners continued walking along the ridge to their destination.

./-\\.

"There's one," he whispered, and gestured for Donna to crouch down beside him as he sought out a bush to hide behind. "Oh look. Isn't he beautiful."

"I think your idea of 'beautiful' compared to mine is way off," she commented in quiet tones. "But he is amazing." She pulled out a camera and began to take photos and footage of the troll moving about. "I don't know what I was expecting but you have to give points to Peter Jackson for being close."

The Doctor had his binoculars out and was gleefully focusing in on the creature's behaviour. "If you look just over there you can see another one. Oh, we have three of them."

"It's not lunchtime by chance, is it?" she wondered.

"Why?"

"Because that one on the right is sniffing the air as if it can smell food. Oh God! It's seen me."

"Do you still have those sandwiches the hotel gave us? Toss them in their direction." He waited until she did just that, and then grabbed hold of her hand. "We'll come back when they're taking a nap. Run!"

She obeyed without question since the beasts were moving slowly in their direction, but where do you avoid a hungry-looking troll? "Where are we going?"

"We'll find somewhere to wait for the trolls to be less hungry," he breathily answered as they ran. "If all else fails, there was a hut type thing on the way here that might do at a pinch."

They stopped after a little while to catch their breath and have a sip of water or two. "You're going back there, aren't you?" Donna observed as she took another drink.

"Well…" The Doctor looked sheepishly back at her. "Yes, yes I am. I've come all this way to study those trolls and it would be daft to leave completely."

"I suppose so," she agreed, and pulled out her notepad. "We'd better get cracking then with jotting down every piece of information we can find."

He grinned. "And collecting soil samples to test, as well as vegetation to examine."

"Do you know what," she commented, idly penning the time and date as she did so, "I've been thinking that your title of 'Doctor' was merely made up for show. But you are a real and proper science type doctor!"

He paused in his task of digging up some samples to glare at her. "Made up?!"

"Well how do I know?" she griped in defence. "People give themselves all sorts of weird names. You could have been a professional wrestler in a previous life, for all I know."

Unable to hold it in, he laughed. "I assure you, I have never been a wrestler."

"Not even a little bit?" she teased, indicating a small size with her thumb and forefinger.

"Not even for you." He sobered to request, "When you're done noting that down, could you take a photo of this for me, please?"

And they continued making observations for the next hour, until they felt able to risk returning up the mountain.

./-\\.

Creeping up the troll encampment, they were relieved to see them deeply asleep on the ground. The remains of what had been their lunch laid strewn about the clearing.

"I'm going to sneak up to try and get a DNA sample," the Doctor whispered directly into Donna's ear.

"Okay." She nodded in acknowledgement. "Be careful."

He threw her an 'as if' look, and then crawled over to the nearest troll. Once there, he hastily pulled out a pouch that held some small medical instruments and set about skin samples. The troll stirred, so he put away his findings and readied himself to escape.

To the side of them there was a loud throaty huff and then a large lizard-like creature raced up to bite the troll. Unfortunately, it missed and got the Doctor instead.

Unconcerned, the trolls slept on.

The new creature was like a dangerous naked mole rat with huge jaws, now that Donna could see it more clearly, and her shock was turning to anger. It was much smaller than a troll, and it held onto the Doctor's left Converse to drag him bodily away from the scene to a spot about ten metres away.

Once there, it began to lick his foot having pinned his body down with its tail.

"Oi! Get away from him, you weird pink weasel!" Donna shouted as she followed in its wake.

"The thangumandalum can't hear you; it's deaf," the Doctor informed her.

"The what?!"

"The thangumandalum. Look, it isn't important what it is called. Just help me!"

"No need to get shirty," she cautioned, and booted the whatever-it-was up the jacksie.

It turned its scaly head to hiss at her, reminding her of a cobra she'd seen at London Zoo. So she darted from side to side, trying to draw it away. In response, it reared its head back and spat a globulous clear mucus concoction over the pair of them. Satisfied it had got rid of her, the creature aimed for the Doctor's foot again; but he hadn't managed to get his Converse off. Fortunately, it was that rather than him the creature grabbed between its jaws, however, he was still stuck beneath its tail.

The thangumandalum obviously had the prey it wanted. For several minutes it ejected more mucus as it gnawed at the shoe, biting through the canvas and rubber of the sole as the Doctor winced in anticipation. To the side of it, Donna grabbed up the Doctor's fallen hat and sunglasses before trying to kick the creature away again, but all it did was spit more globules at her. She was just considering kicking a troll instead to wake it up when the thangumandalum regurgitated the tiny pieces it had swallowed, clearly disgusted by the taste.

Too sweet, it concluded. A troll was more to its liking.

Having smelt the delights of trolls nearby, the thangumandalum took umbrage at the Doctor being so close to it. Turning its back in repulsion, it swished its tail to hurl the Doctor away to the side and then it sauntered away to its new prey.

But Donna didn't care about the trolls. They were big enough to fight their own battles. Her concerns were elsewhere. Especially when a troll tried to thump the creature and accidentally got the Doctor as well; throwing him clear.

"Doctor!" she cried as he flew gracelessly through the air and landed in a crumpled heap several feet away. "Oh my god, it's killed him. Doctor, can you hear me?" She had run to his side and was now kneeling, before pulling his head into her lap. "Please be alright," she begged and sought out his pulse.

Not that she had much experience doing such a thing; she'd only seen it done on the telly, but there was a faint yet consistently strengthening heartbeat, much to her relief. Ignoring the commotion behind her, she hauled him away as quickly as she could to a spot of safety. She was just checking he was okay again when he opened his eyes.

"Donna," he rasped out.

"I'm here. Don't try to move yet. You've had a bit of a fall," she explained.

Involuntarily, she rubbed her thumb fondly on his shoulder. A simple tender gesture.

"Sorry," he gasped. "Didn't mean to pass out."

"No need to be, not on my account," she insisted. "How's your foot? And your leg? It must have hurt a lot by the looks of it. Oh and, you've got a little bit of something on you." She pointed to a splodge on his temple.

"You too," he replied. His hand reached up to touch her cheek. "Is this an hallucination? Are you really here?" he queried; obviously a bit dazed.

"Definitely here," she confirmed, edging closer. "Would an hallucination do this?"

With that, she leaned and brushed her lips against a clean bit on his chin, near the corner of his mouth. It had been tempting to aim for his mouth properly, but logic had stepped in in time.

He immediately clasped her nearer and tried to return the brief kiss. "If this isn't real then this doesn't matter," he reasoned, not letting her pull away.

So she brought her hand up and placed it over his lips to stop the kiss happening. "I'm afraid it is real, and you've just made a terrible mistake," she sadly admitted.

He started to ask "why?" at the exact same time his phone rang.

"That'll be Rose checking in," Donna noted for his startled expression. "Don't you think you'd better answer it?"

He immediately relinquished his hold on her and sought out his phone from his pocket to answer. "Hello?"

The moment was lost so why did she care, Donna told herself. It wasn't as though he'd been with it when he tried to kiss her, so it didn't count. He was as off limits as he'd ever been. But to be so close to what she wanted, to have that romantic dream snatched away, verged on cruelty. Then again, life is often cruel.

"Yes Rose, I'm fine. Just had a bit of a fall, that's all. Nothing broken but I'm a bit winded. Donna's with me so I'm safe. I'll call you when we get back to the hotel. Something's about to come up so we've got to go. Bye."

"What something?" Donna went to ask, and then she saw it: the thangumandalum again.

Before she had the chance to draw breath to complain, the Doctor was on his feet, he'd grabbed her hand, and they were running fast towards what looked like a sheer drop. Any other time they would have stopped to admire the view.

"Jump!" he shouted and pulled her over the side of a ledge and towards some trees.

Seconds later they were dangling from a rock and seeking out footholds to aid their climb down. Above them, the thangumandalum had lost any possible interest in them and was back to hunting trolls.

"What we do now?" Donna asked in a whisper. "I can't hold on for much longer."

"Give me your hand and we'll aim for that tree to get us to that building below with the sun canopy."

"Will it work?" It always did in cartoons but that wasn't much consolation.

"Probably not," he admitted, guiding her into the branches of a tree. "But we should be able to drop safely onto that outbuilding."

"You mean that shed? I'm not sure," she admitted, clambering gradually downwards.

"There's only one way to find out," he reasoned. "Hang on to me, Donna! Hold on tight. On a count of three. One. Two. Three! NOW!" he yelled as he let go of the lower branch they now clung to.


	7. Chapter 7

**Part 7**

.

Seconds later the two of them land on a hut roof, and it immediately collapsed beneath their feet. They plunged through the corrugated roof; taking rafters, branch debris, moss and mud with them. A plume of dust engulfed them, obscuring their vision.

Once it cleared a bit, they both looked up at the shattered ceiling above them as they grasped the fragile walls, dripping wet with gloop and amazed they were still alive. Breathing took priority for a few seconds.

"Are you okay? This is just grand," Donna sarcastically commented as she considered the small building they had landed in. She gasped in a couple of breaths. "Remind me to book two weeks here for next year's holiday."

They were squatting low, next to the ground on something like a pile of sacks and out of the eyeline of the single hole that probably labelled itself as a window.

"I'm fine. You okay? In all fairness, it does have several notable features," the Doctor retorted. "Like that, for instance." He pointed out a dusty corner lit by a single sunbeam.

"The muck and filth set it off a treat," she agreed. "Everything you could ever want from an abandoned hovel."

"Barn… or hut," he corrected. "I suggest we wait a while before setting out to look for the car. Get our breath back and wait for the pain to wear off. Dunno about you but my coccyx is giving me grief."

"Do you really want me to comment on your bottom?" she joked. Moving slightly, she grimaced in pain. "But I know what you mean."

He decided to ignore any reference to his behind. It was safer that way. "What shall we do while we wait?"

She instantly burst out with, "I spy with my little eye…."

"No no no," he interrupted, "we're not doing that. Too many memories of long boring car journeys. Let's try asking each other questions."

Donna frowned. "What, like University Challenge or Trivial Pursuits?"

"No," he sighed. "I'm offering to answer anything you want to know."

"You might regret this," she cautioned. "Okay," she announced, sitting up straighter and flinching at the action, "we'll start with an easy one. Why do you let the world and his wife think you and Rose are an item?"

"That one?" he berated, and then sighed. "Very well, I did say I would answer anything."

"And you must admit that I have a vested interest in finding out since, and I'm sorry to say this but, we do get pestered by her during the day when I'm trying to work," Donna argued.

"Yes, you're right," he agreed. "I'm very fond of her. I love her in my own way, but she has many demands that I can only superficially allow."

"Is that your subtle way of saying you don't sleep together?" At his startled look, she amended, "Sorry. Ignore that. It's none of my business."

Except he suddenly wanted it to be her business. Very much so. "When a beautiful young woman offers herself to you, it's very tempting, but in reverence to Jackie, I haven't touched Rose beyond the odd peck or two." He grimaced. "Well, Rose is almost young enough to be my daughter, and she was only sixteen when I first met her. She was a welcome breath of fresh air at the time, but she also needed protecting, like a father would, so I took on that role, at first. And then her interest in me grew."

"Like having a major crush on your teacher at school, by the sound of it," Donna commented. "And when teacher reciprocates, they tend to get their name in the national papers after being kicked out of their job forever."

"Exactly," he noted. "It isn't wise to follow through with those sort of thoughts; and I'd rather not, if it's all the same to you."

At least he had stopped seeming like some dirty old man, judging by his explanation, so she felt quite relieved. And rather fed up of having to think about Rose. "Talking of schools…. Why have you really decided we can go to St Gladys School?"

The Doctor worried his lip as he considered the best way to answer this question. "Jenny and Ben. They seemed quite sweet, their demeanour bothered me enough to find out more, and they sort of…" He sucked in a breath before continuing with a slight wobble in his voice. "They sort of remind me of my children."

"Children! I didn't know you had children," she exclaimed. "What age are they? And why haven't you mentioned them before? Do you get to see them much? Are you divorced? Is that what's stopping you?"

"That's a lot of questions," he hesitated to answer; his mood sombre. "They…" His hand brushed self-comforting strokes down the top of his thigh. "I lost them both a couple of years ago, when I was attached to the army as a technical consultant. There was…" He faltered again for a couple of seconds; the image still bright in his mind. "There was a bomb; one of those suicide bombers in a street market, just outside Baghdad. They weren't even supposed to be there that day," he sobbed.

She instantly took his hand in hers, wanting to protect him from the raw pain he still felt. "Oh John, how horrible. I am so sorry for your loss," she sympathised, thumbing away the tears on his cheeks and unable to stop her own tears welling up. "If you don't want to tell me anymore, that's fine. I'm too nosey for my own good."

A firm squeeze of her hand made her wonder which bit he was relieved to hear.

"I don't normally mention my family; it's too painful. Yet denying it happened isn't doing me any good," he near whispered. "Rose distracted me for a long while. When I close my eyes, I can still see them all lying covered on a makeshift hospital bed. My wife, son and daughter couldn't be rescued, but Jenny and Ben can, if we manage it."

"I promise I'll help in any way I can," she readily vowed.

"I know you will," he commented with a small wry smile. "You just seem that way. There's a compassionate quality about you that practically screams it."

"What about Rose?" she felt the need to ask, to quash her hopes. "How will she feel about our quest, for want of a better word?"

"I'm not sure she will be keen. She's focused, determined and very caring when people are in need," he replied, "but she isn't overly fond of children. She doesn't seek them out like I've seen you do."

"It's an age thing, I suppose," Donna dismissed with a shrug of her shoulders. "She's too young to experience let alone consider having children. Whereas I've always wanted to be a mum but I'm too old to have my own, yet I'm more than willing to take on someone else's, if that's what it takes. Luckily, Rose has got bags of time to marry if she wants to have a family."

"You're not too old," he countered. "Women have children well into their forties these days; and you're only, what, thirty…?" he sought to find out.

"Thirty-five," she answered, feeling the weight of the number pin her down. "Far too old to even find someone to have a baby with, where my mum is concerned. I thought I'd found the one but that went belly up pretty quickly."

"Ah, yes, the fiancée," he murmured. "What was she like?"

Should she tell him the absolute truth? Perhaps not. It was too soon into their working relationship for that admission and risk losing her job. For now, she would let him continue to believe her ex was a woman.

"This is shaming to say out loud," she began. "As I said, I thought I'd found the ideal person. Smart, good looking, earned a healthy wage. Someone who would love and adore me until the end of my days. And then it started to get a bit controlling. Forever phoning me up. It was all: 'Where have you been?' 'Who have you seen?' 'Where are you going?' 'Are you cheating on me?'" She glanced at him to see if he was still listening, and then carried on, pleased to get this aspect off her chest. "When I refused to hand my phone over to have my texts inspected, I got hit. Of course, they apologised; saying it would never happen again. All the usual tommyrot about loving me. But surely if you love someone you don't attack them for saying hello to an old friend. You don't try to stomp on them or deliberately leave bruises in places other people won't be able to see. And you certainly don't threaten to murder them in their sleep or in the bath."

"Oh Donna," he sympathised, and drew her closer. "You must have been terrified."

"I was for a while," she admitted. "One day I had this wonderful person I loved, and the next I had this monster who tried to kill me with their car. But I won in the end. I made it out and I'm here with you," she emphasised, squeezing his hand, "doing a job I love."

"And I love you too… working with me, I mean," he stammered, blushing with embarrassment. "Do you think we should risk heading for the car yet?" he wondered, deliberately changing the topic. "Are you ready run with me?"

The ambiguity of it wasn't lost on her. "Yes, I think I am."

./-\\.

The running hadn't lasted for long; they were too tired after all the climbing they'd done to do much more than walk along the nearest road when they stumbled upon it. At least it was cooler this far down in the valley, with plenty of trees for cover amid the eternal rocks and stones.

"Oh, thank goodness! There's someone we can ask where we are on the map," Donna tiredly enthused.

Within the forest of trees sat a villa by the side of the road. A man was sweeping debris off the small driveway that let up to it, and a car sat in the shade of the surrounding trees.

"Let me do this," the Doctor offered. "Excuse me!" he called out. "Can you help us?"

The man looked completely gobsmacked at their unusual appearance. It's not every day you see two spat out ragamuffins.

"Meesus Jones!" he shouted towards the villa. "Can you come help?"

The front door opened and then their ears were hit by a loud shriek. "What are you doing here?" a female voice from within the villa demanded.

Peering with squinted eyes into the relative dark to locate the voice, the Doctor exclaimed, "Martha?  
Martha! Sorry to drop in like this but we were in the area."

"Martha? As in your Martha?" Donna wondered.

"Yes. No. Sort of," the Doctor spluttered.

"I'm Martha, yes," Martha cautiously supplied, stepping nearer on the driveway. "And you are?"

"Donna. Donna Noble," she replied. "I'd shake your hand but I'm a bit covered in gloop at the moment. We both are." She shook her hand in demonstration, and some of its covering slopped noisily to the floor. Nonchalantly, she picked off a couple of leaves from her arm to toss aside too. "We had an incident."

"What with?" Martha queried.

"A thangumandalum," the Doctor told her. "Huge slobbery creature."

Martha gasped in shock. "And how did you find one of those?"

"We were looking for trolls."

"Of the non-Scandinavian type," Donna tacked on to his answer. "It did us a favour." She looked to the Doctor to gauge how much she should tell. "Look, can we continue this once we've had a chance to clean ourselves up? Admittedly I could really do with a hot shower followed by a nice cup of tea, but anything will do."

"You don't change, Doctor. Still getting into the same sort of messes." Martha huffed a laugh. "Follow me and I'll find you some towels."

"Does that mean a general wash your hands, or an all over proper wash?" Donna hastily whispered to the Doctor.

"I don't know," he quietly answered. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"What are you whispering about?" a little old lady suddenly and quite testily demanded of them.

They both jumped in shock and turned to see a pensioner sitting hidden by a large settee. She moved sideways to peer at them in curiosity over the padded arm.

"I said: what are you whispering about?" she asked in a louder voice; obviously presuming they hadn't heard her.

"We were just wondering where Martha had got to," the Doctor supplied, "since she's gone to get us towels."

"Oh," the woman remarked. "Why do you need towels? Have you come for a swim?"

"No, Grandma," Martha answered for them, appearing from another room and laden with towels. "They had an animal throw up on them, so they need to wash."

"Why did they let it do that?" Grandma wondered.

"We didn't let it," the Doctor replied.

"It just sort of happened before we could stop it," Donna added.

"Grandma, this the Doctor. I used to work with him. Dr John Smith. Do you remember me mentioning him?"

"Ah yes," Grandma noted. "This must be his girlfriend. Or are you married yet?"

"Oh no, we're not married," the Doctor blustered.

"Then it's about time you were," Grandma pointedly stated.

As he visibly baulked, Donna shared a conspiratorial smile with Martha. "Doctor," she huffed, impersonating Rose's voice and causing Martha to fervently hide her giggles behind her hand. Fortunately, Grandma had wandered off to make tea, so Donna eyed Martha with glee. "Talking of marriage, congratulations!"

"Marriage? What are you on about, Donna?" he questioned, frowning in confusion.

"She's engaged, you prawn!" she chastised. "Didn't you see the ring on her finger?"

"Oh yes!" he gasped, glancing at Martha's hand. "Sorry. Wasn't paying attention for a moment. Congratulations, Martha. A bit quick, but anyway... Who's the lucky man?"

"We met each other, and it just seemed right," Martha defended. "His name is Mickey. Hopefully you remember him. We met quite by chance at the hospital. He works there now." She then bounced in delight as a thought occurred to her. "We're having an engagement party here night. Why don't you both come?"

"I don't know...," the Doctor started to decline.

"You must!" Martha insisted. "My parents will be here too, as well as my immediate family. They'd all love to see you again, Doctor; and meet you, Donna, of course."

"Oh, go on, say yes," Donna urged him, nudging his shoulder with her own. "It'd be a good way to end our trip. We go home the day after tomorrow," she added for Martha's benefit.

"Have a think while you have a shower," Martha advised when he didn't immediately answer. "Doctor, you can use the one in the main bathroom, and Donna can use the shower in my en suite."

"Er, what about clothing?" Donna considered, pointing at their filthy outfits.

"I'll find you something to wear while your clothes wash and dry, shouldn't take more than an hour or so at the most."

"Then you can count me in," Donna enthused. "These shorts are rubbing me in places they really shouldn't."

The Doctor wished she hadn't given him such a mental image to ponder before entering the shower, but it was too late now. The damage was done.

Then she said the fatal words that put the nail in the coffin, as it were. "I'm almost prepared to go skinny-dipping in order to get these clothes off. I have a date with some hot soapy water."

"Are you alright, Doctor?" Martha asked him as he shuddered in the doorway of the bathroom she'd led him to.

"Just a bit... You know," he vaguely answered. "Where shall I put my dirty things?" he asked when she returned some seconds later from guiding Donna to the other shower.

She placed towels and a dressing gown on the bathroom vanity unit before answering. "I'll collect them when you've finished in here. Once your stuff is in the washing machine, I'll leave you some replacements on the bed in Leo's room. Then we'll have some tea and cake before you have a quick nap. How does that sound?"

In that moment, it sounded like heaven. "Lovely," he enthused.

./-\\.


	8. Chapter 8

**WARNING:** there is a tiny bit of swearing.  
 **A/N:** it was a choice between writing more of this, doing the laundry, or faffing about on the internet. Guess which option won...

* * *

 **Part 8**

.

Coming out of the bathroom, feeling a lot cleaner and more human, the Doctor met Donna in the hallway. Like him, she was clad in a dressing gown; except she didn't seem pleased. In fact, she looked extremely puzzled.

"Are you okay?" he asked, with a gentle touch on her shoulder.

"I'm fine. Just feeling a bit scratched. Okay, I'm also confused. So, I thought I'd come out and ask you about it."

"Before you even get dressed?" he teased. "It must be a weighty subject."

"That'll be my hair when I later moan continuously about it."

He took the opportunity to gaze at her wet hair hanging tightly against her skin; and tried desperately not to think about where those water droplets had gone. "I can't see anything wrong about your hair."

"You will when it dries in tiny ringlets. It'll be horrible," she insisted, despite him shaking his head in denial. "Anyway. I've finally met Martha," Donna whispered to him as they headed towards the bedroom where her temporary clean clothes sat on the bed. "She's not exactly what I'd been expecting."

"Oh?" He frowned at her in confusion as he followed her. "How is she different?"

"For a start, she is absolutely beautiful. You made her sound like Nora Batty."

"Unfair and harsh," he petulantly remarked.

She shrugged in disgust that he couldn't see the truth. "We won't argue semantics. But I can see why Rose was so keen to kick her out," Donna carried on, ignoring his outburst. "Talk about competition!"

He gazed at her in annoyance. "Aren't _YOU_ possible competition?"

"Geroff!" she scoffed after gawping at him. Where did he get his ideas from? "Besides, I was employed on the basis that I wouldn't be."

His eyes went wide. "What?!"

"Oh shit! Now I've gone and done it," she admonished herself. "As I said on that first day, you're safe from me."

"Of course you were chosen on that basis. But it isn't only that," he reasoned, touching his fingers to his forehead. "You've been acting like a bodyguard; deliberately stopping other women showing their interest and getting to me." His thoughts went to the sarong-clad woman on the beach and the young woman in the hotel restaurant. "Well?"

"I errr…. I might have done," she admitted. "Look, I'm sorry, but I promised Rose I would keep all other women away from you."

"Then you never were… You…. you… you….," he stammered; and gulped. "The kiss was a lie?" he supposed on a sigh.

She averted her face, too ashamed to confess that the kiss had been nothing like a lie. "It wasn't a proper kiss. Basically, a mistake," she quietly started to explain, "and should never have happened. I'm sorry; it was unforgivable of me."

Hurt struck him in the chest. He'd clung to the reality of that kiss; had needed its hope that she might want to do more with him, foolish as it had been. "Okay. Never mind," he carefully worded. "We'll forget the whole thing ever happened." He sniffed loudly and then declared, "I'll meet you downstairs when you are ready."

With sad, tear-filled eyes she watched him walk away, knowing in her head that her future depended on her keeping silent on the matter; while her heart broke noisily apart.

./-\\.

The Doctor was in the kitchen with Martha when Donna climbed back down the stairs. He was wearing clothing obviously borrowed from Clive, Martha's dad, judging by the style of the polo shirt and swim shorts he had on. Despite the glaringly horrible pattern on the shorts they managed to show off his lean hairy legs a treat. Donna had to wrench her thoughts away from his thighs in time to answer whether she fancied a tea or not.

She'd been given a skimpy peach halterneck sundress and a bikini to wear under it to act as normal underwear. Seeing his gaze rest on the embellished neckline of the dress, she self-consciously adjusted the strap of the bikini to sit flat against her neck.

"You look nice," he commented; and enjoyed the blush on her cheeks.

"Are you sure? This was the only large thing Martha could find to fit me. I think it makes me look too busty," she grumbled, and pulled the flowing material momentarily away from her cleavage. It inevitably fell back into exactly the same position.

"No, it doesn't," he disagreed. "Then again, I like…" He coughed to stop himself voicing the comment about her bust, and then asked Martha, "Is the tea ready yet?"

"Almost," she answered, and hid a laugh. "For the record, Donna; I think that dress looks nice on you too."

Donna self-consciously wrapped a lock of hair behind her ear. "Thanks," she acknowledged, but it was obvious she still didn't agree.

"She won't let you compliment her," the Doctor informed Martha, "but I refuse to let that stop me."

"Good for you," Martha approved. "We women need a compliment here and there."

"Oh! Not that I'm saying you don't look nice too, Martha," he hastily tacked on to stop Donna glaring meaningfully at him. "Very nice."

"There you go; we all look nice," Donna commented to close the subject. "Can we drink our tea now?"

He couldn't resist nudging her shoulder to tease her. "Are you saying I look nice as well, Ms Noble?"

"Pft! You look something, that's for sure," she dismissed; but he didn't miss the warm gleam in her eyes.

Feeling the need to break up this unspoken conversation, Martha wondered, "Do you want to take an afternoon nap while you wait for your clothes to dry?"

"Not really, thanks, but I wouldn't say no to sunning myself by your pool for a little while," Donna admitted. "If that's okay?"

"Of course it is," Martha brightly answered. "What about you, Doctor?"

"I'm happy to have a go at lounging about next to Donna," he replied without realising how odd that might sound.

Martha could not have been more surprised if she tried. This was NOT like him at all. He hardly rested for long, let alone lounged about doing nothing. "Okay," she trilled. "I'll show you the way and where everything is."

./-\\.

"Are you alright over there?" Donna asked him half an hour or so later from under their sunshade. "You've gone awfully quiet."

"I'm always alright," he automatically answered. Then he sighed and added, "Honestly, I'm fine."

"You sure?" she sought to confirm. "I can rub some more sun cream in for you if you like."

He smiled. Wouldn't he like to take her up on that offer; or at least give a suggestive reply. "I think I've got enough on me for now, thanks. It's just… I'm not used to doing this."

"What, sitting about?" She laughed. "You should do more of it, you know. It'd do you good. Help calm you down."

"What do you mean?" he protested. "I **am** calm."

"Yeah, as calm as a cat on hot bricks," she disagreed, pretending to return her attention to the magazine in her hands. Unable to resist, she put it down, swung her legs sideways over the edge on the sun-lounger she was on, and looked at him head on. "I'm not saying this to be mean, but if you carry on the way you do at times, you'll end up giving yourself a heart attack."

"Is this you caring about me?" he huffed, adding in a pout.

"Funnily enough, it is," she decided. "I worry about you, and I know you'll tell me I shouldn't but you're my friend as well as my employer."

"You're my friend too," he acknowledged, and gently took her hand in his. "I appreciate the way you take care of me."

She shrugged her shoulders. "It's all part of the job."

"No no no, you don't get to dismiss your caring nature," he muttered. "I won't have you do that to yourself. We are making a deal from this moment on: I am going to compliment you, and you are going to let me."

"If you insist."

"I do insist. Very much." He grinned broadly as he considered his next possible compliment. "So, let's try one. Your hair is lovely when it dries naturally like that."

"You like all these corkscrews?!" she queried and lifted a curl in pure disgust. "Are you mad?"

"Ah ah ah!" He waved his index finger to stop her being naughty. "What did we say? It is a genuine compliment I'm paying you."

"Alright," she grouched. "I'll try. Thank you."

"That's better." He released her hand and sat back, pleased with this result.

"Is that you, Doctor?"

"Mickey! Mickety-Mick Mickey!" he burst out with, rising to his feet to greet Martha's fiancé. "How are you? Congratulations!"

"Good, thanks," Mickey responded with a handshake. "I was so shocked when Martha said you were here."

"So were we. This is Donna, by the way." He held out a hand in demonstration towards her. "Donna, this is Mickey Smith."

"Lovely to meet you," she gushed, and shook his hand too. "I hope you don't mind us gatecrashing your engagement party. We didn't mean to. We just happened to show up earlier and Martha kindly invited us."

"She told me. Still investigating aliens, Doctor? One day you might actually find one." Mickey laughed.

Donna noted that the Doctor's grin did not reach his eyes.

"One day, you never know," he cautiously replied. "Anyway, enough about me. What have you been doing with yourself since I last saw you?"

"I got a new job doing general machine maintenance in the Royal Hope Hospital and am back living in Peckham for the time being, near Martha's Gran. You met her earlier, apparently," he stated, thumbing towards the lounge. "She likes it out here; the heat reminds her of home in the Caribbean."

"Jamaica?" Donna queried.

"No, she came her of her own accord," the Doctor immediately joked and then yelped when she swatted his arm. "What?" he moaned, making a display of rubbing his forearm, "It's a good joke."

"One that was put out to pasture decades ago," she countered, "so let it rest in peace."

They glared at each other in mild annoyance.

"I see the new Mrs is giving you grief," Mickey commented, breaking their staring match. His amusement grew when he saw their matched shocked expressions. "I'm joking! Martha told me Donna is only your new PA."

"Oi! Not so much of the 'only', thank you very much," Donna protested. "There is nothing 'only' about what I do."

"Sorry. Didn't mean anything by it," Mickey backpedalled. "I'll errr… go and let you get on with whatever you were doing. See you later."

"Nice one," the Doctor complimented her as Mickey legged it. But he soon frowned. "You aren't going, are you? Why?"

"Yes, I'm going inside. Sitting about out here has rather lost its charm," she admitted. "I'm going to get changed back into normal gear."

He rested his hands on her shoulders, in comfort and hoping to retain her. "Mickey didn't mean to sound offensive. His heart is in the right place."

Her expression remained glum. "And I've just stomped on it."

"Donna," he softly worded, wanting to find a way to make her feel better. "No one who meets you could ever think you'd want to be so cruel. Just you see. They will love you tonight."

"Donna!" Martha called out. "If you want Dad to give you a lift to your car, can you come now, please? So that he can get back in time to set things up for the party!"

"I'm coming!" Donna yelled in return. "Do you want to come too or wait here for me?" she asked the Doctor.

"Erm. Considering Francine will be here, I think I'd rather come and keep you company," he readily supplied.

Seeing his anxiety about staying alone with the Jones family, she couldn't be mean to him. "Yeah, without you there I'd feel lonely. Grab your sunglasses first and then we'll be off."

./-\\.

A European techno beat thrummed through the very soles of their feet. Martha handed Donna another fruit juice and stood with her to watch the Doctor being dragged through several dance steps by her grandmother. "Who knew?" she joked. "He actually _is_ capable of dancing without spontaneously combusting."

"And with your Grandma too," Donna agreed. "He was a bit anxious about meeting your family again."

She wanted to add that, considering the glare Francine had shot at him, she couldn't blame him in the slightest.

"Was he?" Martha questioned in amazement. "They don't hold it against him, if that's what he thinks. Alright, he was a little bit of a prat about my crush on him, but it was Rose who turfed me out."

Wanting to build a stronger bond with Martha, Donna confessed, "I'm sure Rose would do the same to me in a heartbeat if she knew I'm not gay."

Martha was both appalled and impressed. "You let her think that?"

Donna shrugged. "I needed this job desperately and it seemed like a small price to pay."

"And what about the Doctor? He should know the truth," Martha insisted. "Otherwise he'll never trust you again."

"I know," Donna conceded. "And I will tell him soon; promise. I just have to find the right moment."

Why was Donna being so reluctant to tell the truth? "You and him," Martha began to ask. "Is there something going on?"

"We work together, and we've become good friends," Donna carefully answered. "There's nothing more than that."

"Are you sure?" Martha knew she had been smitten by him, but she wasn't daft. And nor was Donna.

"What else can there be?" Donna countered. "I love this job. In fact, I never want to stop doing it."

So, Martha rested a hand on Donna's arm, wanting to offer all the support she could, knowing that her new friend's heart would soon be broken. "If you ever need to talk to someone, I'm here for you."

"Thanks." She looked over to where the Doctor's pleading expression was aimed straight at her, and knew she was powerless to deny anything he demanded. "I'd better rescue him from your grandma before he possibly throws up."

"He has rather drunk more than normal for him," Martha agreed on a laugh. "Honest, Donna," she added on a whisper, "any time."

Donna gave her a grim smile and then sauntered over to the Doctor before taking hold of his arm. "Come on, Cinderfella, let's get you home to bed."

Goodbye hugs were offered all around and offers to meet up again in the future. Minutes later they were heading down a dark mountain road towards the hotel.

The Doctor aimed a beautifully wide grin at Donna in the faint light from the car dashboard. Seeing him relaxed and happy like this made her see more and more why Martha had fallen for him. "You're quiet," she noted.

"I'm a little bit drunk," he confessed. "More than I thought I was."

"Are you?" she sarcastically retorted. "I'd have never known if you hadn't told me, what with the way you were dancing with Martha's gran, and all. Total surprise after you swore you never ever dance."

"I know. And I apologise for that. Normally I am a man of my word."

"Well I won't tell no one if you don't."

"Thanks. You're a true mate, Donna."

"I have been often known for it. Are you feeling sick?" she wondered with concern, starting to slow the car down.

"Just a bit. No need to stop. I'll open the window a tad." He rolled down the window and breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Ah, that's better. While I think of it, there's something I need to tell you."

If he was going to be like every other drunk she had ever known, this could be extremely funny. "Is this your funeral wishes for tomorrow morning when you feel like death?"

"No, because I won't have a hangover," he haughtily declared. "I'm not that drunk. And I naturally metabolise alcohol quite quickly"

"If you say so."

"I do. And another thing..."

"What?"

He faltered for a second. "Erm. I don't remember, but it was important. Super important, like life changing important."

"'Mis-sold a PPI' sort of important?" she cheekily pondered.

"No, silly!" He giggled with delight and batted at her arm. "I mean you and me sort of important," he clarified.

"Oh dear," she murmured, dreading what he might say.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** I've finally escaped the bedroom and ditched the nightdress. Yay! [FYI: it was due to migraines - I wasn't abducted or anything...]

* * *

 **Part 9**

.

Donna needed to find a way to stop him saying something about their personal relationship. She was a big girl; she could guess that he had a mild case of being in lust. As for herself, she didn't want to name what she felt as being anything other than concern. Nor did she want to admit that she was playing up to his attentions by flirting back. While the cat's away the mouse will play, and all that stuff.

"Are you going to tell me you want to run off with Martha?" she deliberately guessed wrong.

"Pft, no!" he scoffed, waving a dismissive hand about before it landed briefly on her arm.

"Could have fooled me, with the way you hugged her goodbye," she teased. "All over her, you were."

He fervently shook his head. "She's special, but no, she has someone else now to love. Are you the teensiest tiniest bit jealous, Donna?" he gleefully asked, lifting his head from the headrest behind him to seek eye contact. He then dramatically gulped as a thought occurred to him. "Do you fancy Martha?" he hoarsely whispered in shock.

"No, I do not," she hotly denied. "Not in the slightest, before you ask."

"Oh. Sorry," he contritely replied, lowering his head back down. "You're the first lesbian I've ever had the chance to know."

"Might be the last as well," she muttered. "Anyway, who decided I'm a lesbian? I could be bi or straight for all you know," she retorted.

That caught his interest; and he immediately sat up straight. "Do you... Is it possible that you erm… fancy members of the male species?"

"It's not entirely impossible, you know," she argued. "Not that I view men and women as being separate species, please note; but I do exist as a living, breathing human being."

"I suppose you do," he murmured, having sobered up quite a bit.

As a possibility loomed large in his head and headed for his heart, he could not for the life of him stop looking at her intensely. It was as if he were trying to psychically will her to fall madly in love with him. Which was sort of true.

She could feel the force of his gaze. "Stop looking at me!" she demanded.

That gooey expression of his was enough to make her act on her unwanted feelings. And that was a definite no-no.

"Who else am I going to look at in here?" he petulantly queried. "There's not exactly an option."

"Oh, I dunno," she argued, seeking anything verbal to throw at him and stop this situation getting out of control. "You could be on the phone to Rose, as per usual. Talking of which, have you noticed something?"

"What?"

She wanted to laugh at how obvious it was. "You haven't had a single phone call from Rose since we left the trolls this afternoon. I mean, practically all day."

"Ah," he guilty sighed. "The thing is, I don't have my phone anymore."

"You don't?" she incredulously questioned. "But… Where do you think it is?"

"Probably beneath that tree we climbed down," he reasoned, "or perhaps somewhere in that hut we crashed into."

"Do you want us to go and look for it?" she offered. "It would take us only half an hour to drive there and there's an emergency torch in my bag in the boot."

"Nah," he replied and grinned mischievously. "We can easily pick up another phone when we get back home to England. And it isn't as if you haven't got a phone, should we need to call anyone."

No! She couldn't believe it. He was actually choosing to remain out of contact with Rose. This had to be a first.

"Cheeky!" she laughed. "Careful, you'll be sent to Coventry for not returning her calls."

He merely shrugged. "I could get to like this level of silence if it persists."

"And Rose doesn't even know you've met up with Martha again," Donna pondered, thoroughly amused. "Whatever will she say to you bunking off like this?"

In answer, he leaned in close and whispered, "I won't tell her what we get up to if you don't. It will be our little secret for no one else to know. I recall you mentioning skinny dipping earlier. How about we give that a go? Hmm? Test out these new boundaries."

He then waggled his eyebrows at her for good measure.

In answer, she swatted his arm. "You cheeky sod! Funny how you remembered the mention of possible nakedness. Anyone would think you were making a play for me," she mocked.

"The night is still young, Donna," he enigmatically replied; and giggled when he was swatted again. "That's your phone," he announced as a loud ditty filled the air.

"Can you answer it for me? I'm a bit busy driving here."

"Okay. Let me find it...," he blundered, diving into her shoulder bag and scrabbling about amongst its contents. "Found it! Oh. It's Rose," he unhappily stated.

Bugger! Talk of the devil and they appear, it's said. "Then answer it."

"Hello, Rose," he cautiously began; pausing between each sentence to listen to her response. "Yes, it's me. I'm answering Donna's phone because she's driving at the moment without a handsfree. We've been to an engagement party. Because we were suddenly invited. Donna tends to make friends quite quickly. It wasn't done to piss you off. My phone, you say? All day? Sorry, I don't have it anymore. It got lost. If you must know, I probably dropped it when we were climbing down a tree. Yes, I said 'tree'." He listened some more as Rose evidently got angrier. "No, I don't think that is going to happen. You are to stay right there, and we will stay here getting the job done that we came here to do. And while you are talking about Donna, I forbid you to continuously phone her tomorrow thus stopping her from doing her job. I know all about your secret plans to have her act as your personal guard dog with me, and I am not pleased! Is that what you wanted to hear from me?! Now stop bothering me and go to bed. Oh, I dare; very much so. And believe me, Rose, we _will_ talk when I get home. There are a few things I can't wait to say to you too. Goodbye."

"That wasn't as lovey dovey as normal," Donna airily remarked, secretly pleased with his rant. "Anything I should know about?"

"I cannot believe how she acts with me. She only wanted to fly out tomorrow and check up on us. Me! As if I cannot be trusted."

"And can you?"

Just look at how I've stopped myself from seducing you, he wanted to answer. Instead, he replied, "You should know by now."

"Do you think keeping all other women away from you now includes Rose," she defiantly pondered.

"I love your thinking," he gushed. "Don't let me back down when I'm less merry."

She readily nodded. "As long as you don't live to regret it, okay."

Shifting in his seat, he offered, "Shall I tell you what I do regret?"

"Oh, go on then, seeing as I'm a captive audience. Tell me."

He swerved nearer to carefully enunciate, "I regret not dancing with you tonight."

"Careful, you'll make Martha's gran jealous," she blustered, trying to ignore the resultant zing through her veins. "In fact, I… Shit!" she exclaimed, looking back at him. He had fallen asleep with his head wedged against her shoulder. "Just when you were getting romantic too. Bloody typical," she griped. "Okay, I can say it to your face while you are out of it. I regret you not dancing with me too. There. I've said it out loud and the whole universe hasn't exploded. Who'd have thought? Perhaps I'm meant to be happy with someone one day after all. Yeah, I know; shut up, Donna. The world doesn't care what I want." She sighed deeply. "Let's find some music on this car radio to sing along to, otherwise I might end up telling you my life story."

Seconds later some vintage pop music filled the air, and she sang through the dark void back to the hotel.

./-\\.

Unable to resist testing his boast that he would not have a hangover, Donna opened his bedroom door and cheerily greeted him with, "Good morning. Rise and shine. Or would you prefer me to eat alone this morning?"

He groaned from somewhere beneath his bedcovers. "No, I'm fine. Just give me a moment to wake up."

She stepped beyond the doorway to see if he genuinely would be able to wake up soon. "Do you remember much of the engagement party?"

"It's a bit of a blur," he admitted, emerging a bit more.

Thank God for small mercies, she thought. "Then you won't remember doing a whole proposal routine," she joked.

"I proposed to you?!" he cried, before sense kicked in. "No, I don't think that happened."

"Not to me, silly. As if you would." She wasn't pleased that he nodded along in agreement, so she pushed the joke further. "I meant you trying to steal Martha from Mickey."

"I didn't!" he gasped in horrified denial. "No no no no. I wouldn't do such a thing. Please say I didn't."

"Do you know what your problem is?" she queried. "You are far too easy to wind up."

Her smirk was soon wiped off her face.

She shrieked as he suddenly leapt out of the bed and grabbed her. "Too easy, am I," he growled. "We'll see who is easy around here."

"Don't," she squealed. "Stop it. Argh!"

But his tickling was relentless; right up until he realised he had her beneath his pyjama clad body, all warm and soft. He abruptly let go of her, saying, "Let that be a lesson to you."

Except it had been a lesson for him in how not to give in to temptation and the womanly delights of his ginger companion.

In turn, she politely ignored his reaction, and quickly clambered off his bed. "I'll finish getting ready and then we can breakfast; plan our day and all that," she stated, heading quickly out the door to leave him alone.

Part of him wondered why she seemed equally flustered rather than annoyed with him, and then parts of their conversation from their journey home filtered into his brain.

"...who decided I'm a lesbian. I could be bi or straight for all you know ...It's not entirely impossible..."

Could she fancy him in return? Was he reading their situation correctly, or was he merely being delusional? He had to know, but it wasn't the sort of thing you just walked up and demanded to know. Not if the other person might not be sexually interested at all. And he had the tricky problem of Rose to take into consideration. The air needed clearing with that situation once and for all. At times, he really didn't envy himself one jot.

./-\\.

They remained with safe topics at the breakfast table. "Any response from the school yet?"

"Yes," she delighted in confirming. "We're booked in for Friday."

"Good." They were getting somewhere with that investigation. "I think a quick trip out to take photos, gather some more soil samples, come back to test them, type up some notes, and then pack. How does that sound?"

"Fine, as long as we have time for lunch and a swim too," she agreed.

"I'll do even better than that," he promised. "I'll take you out for a celebratory meal tonight. Unless you have other plans with someone else."

He was fishing, she could tell. "No, no other plans. Just you and me." Should she ask about Rose?

As if he could read her mind, he commented, "I'm not going to borrow your phone to contact Rose, and I want you to ignore any calls from her until at least this evening. She is not allowed to disturb you while you work."

"What if it's an emergency?"

"Then she'll have to text and wait for you to reply. But I very much doubt a genuine emergency will occur. Whatever she dreams up will have to wait until we get home tomorrow."

She grimaced. "Sounds like you're spoiling for a fight."

His gaze stayed firm. "Perhaps I am."

By six o'clock they'd achieved everything they wanted to do and were chatting about possible dinner plans when Donna's phone finally rang.

She lifted the phone to her ear. "Hello Rose," she answered it with. "What? No. As if I'd deliberately ignore you. My phone must have been on silent. No, we've been busy all day. I've been collating and typing up notes, and the Doctor has been carrying out soil sample experiments and the like. He is not allowed to bring back soil through customs, you know that. We don't want to harm our natural wildlife with cross contamination. I'll have a look to see if he's busy. Hang on."

He waved his hands desperately to indicate that he was not willing to answer the phone.

"It seems he's a bit tied up at the moment," Donna continued the call. "Shall I get him to call you back when he can? Fine. Will do. Bye!" She then turned to him. "Now that I've sort that out for you, I'm off for a swim. Are you coming too?"

"I'll be down in a minute." He pondered for a bit longer before asking, "Donna, if it came to it, would you be willing to move home with me?"

"Of course. But I doubt it'll come to that," she reasoned. "You know how hot-headed Rose can get in an angry moment. Before you know it, you'll be back to being firm friends again."

"Hmm." He was not convinced it would be easy to resolve this time. "You go on ahead and have your swim. I've got a few things I want to finish first."

"If you're sure you don't want me to wait, I'll see you down there," she answered. The thing was, she was desperate to have a swim; Rose or no Rose. "Bye for now."

./-\\.

In the pool, Donna had had a nice swim and was leaning back against the edge of the deep end, having a rest. There were only two other people in the pool; everyone else had gone off to get ready for dinner. The water lapped around her shoulders, and she took the opportunity to take in the wonderful view from the pool.

From beside her, a dark head popped up from under the water, and a middle-aged man came into view. He smiled in greeting. "Hello. Having a nice time?" he asked in a suave upper-class British accent.

She smiled politely back. "Yes, very, thanks."

"It's nice here," the stranger commented, and edged nearer. "Are you staying for much longer? Perhaps I'll have the chance to buy you a drink."

Oh dear! How could she explain she was sort of taken? "Ah, well, you see..."

A voice from above them boomed out, "What my wife is trying to tell you is that I disapprove of strange men offering to buy her drinks."

They turned towards the voice and saw the Doctor standing beside the pool mere inches away with a stern expression on his face.

"Sorry, old man," the strange bloke quickly apologised. "Didn't know this was your ball and chain; what what," he laughed.

"I beg your pardon," the Doctor huffed indignantly. "My wife is nothing of the sort."

"No offence meant," the bloke blustered. "Sorry," he mouthed at Donna, "been a bit of a mix up."

"That's the polite way of saying it," she agreed. "I'd better come out," she told the Doctor. "John, help me, please." She lifted a hand for him to physically pull her out of the pool which he did with ease. "I could get to like this muscular strong version of you very much," she whispered into his ear.

He hid his pleased reaction by replying, "You're dripping water all over me."

"Have I?" she pretended to coyly wonder. "How remiss of me. Perhaps you'd like to punish me in our room?"

His eyes went wide in shock. "Is all this for the benefit of that oaf who was chatting you up?" he whispered.

"Could be. Might not be if you play your cards right," she mischievously murmured and headed towards their rooms.

He hastily followed. Just in case.

./-\\.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** rather than split up the row with Rose, I have put that in the next chapter, and surprised myself by keeping to the correct rating in this one.

* * *

 **Part 10**

.

To the Doctor's dismay, Donna's whole flirty manner disappeared as soon as they entered the hotel lobby and walked across it.

"What?" she asked as he gawped at her. "What's the matter? Why are you looking at me like that? All sort of weird. I only pressed the lift button. Was that wrong?"

"No, not wrong," he quietly responded, trying not to show his lack of joy with this latest downturn in their promising relationship. At least he could be slightly honest about his thoughts. "I was just thinking about that man in the pool; and stuff."

"Oh, that," she answered as something tinged to indicate the lift arrival.

"Yes, that," he commented.

The lift doors soon closed behind them, and they whooshed upwards.

He eyed her cautiously, wondering if her nonchalance was a front. "Are you okay?"

"Never better. Apart from being cold and wet, obviously." She pulled her towel around her body tighter in demonstration. "I still can't believe you got rid of that creepy chancer by telling him you were my husband!" Donna enthused as they left the lift. "I never expected that."

"I merely repaid what you did for me in the restaurant." The Doctor tried to nonchalantly shrug it off. "I half expected you to hit me for claiming to be your husband."

"Nah!" she denied. She'd secretly liked it. "As if I would; especially when you were merely returning a favour."

"Then you don't mind that I was a little presumptuous?"

"I can live with it because it's more than that, sort of special," she argued. "Your intentions were really kind."

"Talking of special, I've erm… booked a table for dinner tonight," he hesitantly supplied. "How roma- special did you want us to make it?" he corrected his question as they entered their suite.

She treated him to a coquettish smile in return. "As special as you like. I won't take too long to get dressed. Give me a chance to wring out my cossie first."

Before he could speak, she disappeared into her bedroom and presumably her en suite bathroom, where she began to remove her sopping wet garment.

"Will your swimming costume dry in time?" He anxiously rubbed his neck as he envisioned her removing the garment a few feet away from him. It had been a strain seeing her wearing it, let alone the image of its removal leaving her naked. That skinny dipping fantasy loomed large again. "I never went in the pool," he realised.

Her head immediately popped round the doorframe to declare, "It's not too late if you still want to."

"No, it's okay," he assured her, so she disappeared again. "Anyway, you've started changing now. It wouldn't be the same going on my own. And I wanted to discuss something with you."

"Oh?" came her voice echoed from inside her bathroom. "That sounds ominous."

The sounds of her shuffling about drifted in to the main room.

"Not particularly," he squeaked and then gave a cough. "I'm seriously thinking of telling Rose that whatever our relationship is, and I know her view of it is very different to mine, is over. In fact, I think I should move out and find somewhere of my own. Stand on my own two feet and all that."

"Well, you won't find me arguing with that sentiment," she commented from afar. "You'll be free to do and be whatever you want."

"Even if I want you," he murmured.

"Pardon?" Her head appeared again to ask, "Did you say something? I can't hear everything in here, but I'll be out in a tick." Moments later she stepped through the door, now wearing a thin dress, and brushing her hair. "You were saying?"

"It doesn't matter. You look lovely."

She went to deny it but remembered their deal. "Oh, this is another of those compliments you threatened me with. Alright. Thanks."

Giving her a broad grin, he fondly replied, "Any time."

./-\\.

By mutual agreement they had quickly made their way down to the restaurant, and accepted a table overlooking the ocean; giving them an excellent view of the sunset. It was an intimate position, and he relished every second of this pseudo date when she smiled back at him with warmth in her eyes.

In light of it being their last night on the island and the end of their first trip abroad, he had ordered champagne to celebrate the achievement. Throughout the delicious meal they discussed possible places he could move to, and the budget he would possibly have to support himself.

"Have some more champagne," he insisted, holding the bottle over her glass to refill it. "We have to drink to new opportunities."

"You'll get me drunk at this rate," she confessed, but she didn't refuse the offer.

"We could always take the bottle up to our rooms," he considered, stopping his action midway to completion. "Then we could sit more comfortably and talk in private."

"Rightio, you're on." She downed the alcohol left in her glass and stood to leave. "Well, are you coming or not?"

He giggled with delight that she was so eager; and picked up their glasses and the bottle. "After you, milady."

./-\\.

"You are spoiling me, you know. What with the fancy meal, champagne, posh hotel and you've even thrown in a sunset," she noted as they re-entered their suite. "How are you going to do to top that?"

He carefully placed the drinks glasses and bottle down on to the provided coffee table, and then turned on the room radio. "I was thinking of some music, and…" He held out a hand towards her.

She frowned at it in confusion. "What? What is it you want me to hand over?"

"You, love," he replied. When she still didn't move, he stated, "I am asking you to dance with me."

"Really! Are you sure?" she wondered incredulously.

"I wouldn't be standing here like a posing idiot if I wasn't," he retorted, still holding out his hand. "So, what do you say, Donna? Will you do me the honour of dancing with me?"

She smiled and eagerly stood to take his offered hand. "Try and stop me. I ain't going to let this opportunity pass me by. Who knows when it'll happen again."

Except her confident tone changed when he placed his other hand on her waist to draw her close, and his lips even closer. Suddenly she was in danger of melting into his arms.

"I bet you thought I couldn't do this," he said, slowly twirling her around the room.

"Something like that," she confessed.

"I can dance," he stated, "but I usually choose not to do so."

"Nice to know alcohol gets you up; if you see what I mean…" She blushed.

"You're being naughty again," he whispered directly into her ear. "I suspect you do this deliberately."

"Do what?" she heard herself ask.

He quietly said, "Make me want to impress you, and more."

She knew she'd regret it, but she had to ask. "What sort of 'more'?"

"If you would allow it, I'd kiss you," he admitted in a husky voice. "So…. Can I?"

"Just this once." Just as his lips almost landed on hers, she added, "But I need to tell you something first."

The kiss was far briefer than either of them had anticipated or wanted. It was nice though. Sort of soft and sweet.

"First?" he queried distractedly. "What sort of something?"

"Can we sit down?" she implored, and immediately placed herself on the edge of the nearest settee. To her relief, he sat himself next to her. "The thing is," she cautiously began, anxiously licking her lips, "I haven't been exactly truthful with you about something."

"What!"

"Now don't get all whatshername," she begged. "It wasn't done to harm you or anything. Nothing like it. In fact, I was trying to save my backside."

"It's a very nice backside," he commented.

"I didn't say that to force you to compliment me, although it's a really nice one. The compliment, I mean, and not my bum. Anyway. Thanks," she conceded. "I'm talking about this lesbian business you and Rose insist I am. Well, I'm not. Never have been and never will be; not even in a bisexual way, as far I know."

"Then why let me believe that?" he demanded; except something in the back of his mind pointed out that he already knew this. And he was delighted she had confirmed it. "Is anything else not true?"

"Not exactly. My ex-fiancé that I told you about when we fell through the roof, all that is completely true, apart from his gender. He was male, but you might have gathered that bit, and Lance was… is his name. I took this job to get as far away from him as possible."

"And he is the one who beat you up," the Doctor stated through gritted teeth. "Just you wait until I get my hands on him!"

"There's no need to get violent," she pleaded, resting her hands over his on his lap. "That's really kind of you, but I don't think you ought to risk it. Lance is a mean bugger when he's riled."

"So am I," the Doctor confirmed. "He won't know what's hit him." When she continued to look worried, he moved to hold her hands and consoled her with, "I promise I will look after you, Donna. He will never touch a hair on your head again."

"That's what I'm worried about," she confessed. "He's dangerous; and if he hurt you I'd never forgive myself."

"Oh Donna," he crooned, wrapping his arms around her to draw her close to his chest. "Shhh! Don't worry about me. I can look after myself. It's him who ought to be worrying."

"If you go and break things up with Rose, and she finds out I'm involved, what if she goes and tells Lance where I am out of spite?" she fretted. "What do I do then?"

"I'll do this carefully, with no mention of you," he proposed. "Rose deserves to get the truth about how I feel as soon as possible; face to face and not through some text or email message like some cowards do. Until then, when things are clearer, we'll take things slow between us, if you like. There's no hurry."

"Thank you," she tearfully muttered. "Despite appearances, I don't want to go behind Rose's back and be your bit on the side. I'm relieved you said nice and slow because I was worried you'd want to leap straight into a full-blown sexual relationship."

"Well, I won't deny that I would like to have that with you," he allowed. "I'd be lying if I said it hadn't crossed my mind. Quite a few times, as it happens. But I've waited until now to get this far, so I can wait a little bit longer."

"Pft! You make it sound like you're desperate," she scoffed. "We've only known each other a couple of weeks."

"Do I really have to show you how desperate I am?" He raised his left eyebrow in astonishment. "Or do I have to do the 'I exist as a human being' speech you gave me last night?"

"I thought you didn't remember any of that in the car," she gasped in horror, "that you were out of it." What else did he remember?

He reached up to caress her cheek with his thumb. "Not completely; and I've always been told I have an exceptional memory."

She was unable to resist mocking him. "And so modest too. I'm surprised you can find the breath to boast about it."

"Are you saying I talk too much, Donna Noble?" he playfully retorted. "Words are my living."

"They also might be the death of you."

He grinned with delight and tilted her chin nearer to deliberately wafted his breath over her mouth. "A _petite mort_ is extremely tempting right now. Why don't you try shutting me up for a while?" he offered.

So she did. Quite gladly.

./-\\.

Their journey home had been fairly unadventurous. The Doctor had wedged himself to her side throughout the journey, clutching her hand desperately and forcing himself to sleep during the flight home. He had managed to cope with the journey, no problem. Which left facing the next major obstacle when they got home: the wrath of Rose.

As they climbed out of the taxi from the airport, the Doctor asked the driver, "How quickly can you get here if you are busy doing another job?"

"About half an hour," the driver responded. "Why?"

"I might need you later," the Doctor warned him. "There's going to be an argument and you are my backup plan."

"Just let me know on that number," the driver acknowledged, nodding his head towards the business card he had handed over. "Good luck to the both of you."

They said their thanks and then watched the taxi drive away back down the gravel access road.

"Are you sure about this?" Donna queried. "There's still time for you to make things up with her.

Peering out from an upstairs window, Rose easily saw the Doctor standing on the gravel outside whilst regarding the house. She especially didn't miss him reaching behind him to seek Donna's hand to comfort and ground him before entering the building. In fact, she seethed with righteous indignation. That was HER position in his life, not some jumped up temporary PA! And she was determined to make sure Donna Noble was sacked from her comfy position as soon as possible, because nobody, not even an efficient and highly skilled lesbian who managed to stop every other woman ogling him at thirty paces, would keep Rose Tyler from taking her rightful place by his side or contacting him by phone whenever the mood took her. Nobody would get away with doing that, come hell or high water.

Without conscious thought, Rose turned on her heel and headed for the stairway to accost him.

Down in the massive hallway, the Doctor was still holding on tight to Donna's hand. "We should leave our suitcases here by the main entrance," he advised, "just in case things get a little ugly."

"A little?" Donna questioned, spying a marauding Rose from afar. "The show is about to start. Good luck."

And with that, she released his hand and stepped to the side of the hall in order to make her way into his office. It was best if she stayed out of the way, for now.

The plan was to snatch up every available piece of data that could be mobilised should things go pear shaped in the next few minutes. A contingency plan was the only thing she had to grasp onto; that and her dream that he would actually make a clean break with Rose. And she hoped she hadn't fallen deeply enough in love with him not to be able to cope with the fall out if he didn't. It was truly an all or nothing situation, but she told herself she had to carry on with the job if Rose didn't chuck her out first.

The Doctor remained standing at the bottom of the sweeping staircase, contemplating his next move as Rose glared down at him over the bannister from the top step. "Hello Rose," he softly greeted her.

"Hello Rose. Hello Rose!" she stormed, mocking him. "Where the hell have you been? I haven't heard from you since your little picnic. Too busy to answer my phone calls, no doubt! Too high and mighty to exchange one word with me, while that ginger lezzer kept me on silent for two days. Two days!" Rose raged. "Who do you think you are treating me like that?"

He took in a deep breath before telling her, "We need to talk, in private."


	11. Chapter 11

**Warning:** contains some swear words said in anger.

* * *

 **Part 11**

.

"We don't need to talk in private. In fact, I think the whole world should hear what you have to say," Rose declared as the Doctor looked up at her in horrified silence. "What, frightened your new windup toy will hear what a conniving bastard you can really be?" she surmised, taking four steps down towards him. "Oh, I'm sure you've fed her a load of old codswallop. A delightful tale of woe about poor _little_ you having to deal with evil me! Well, let her hear the truth for once; that this is how you treat the people you love." She managed to hold in a sob, and then shouted loudly, "Do you hear that, Donna? Your precious Doctor stomps all over people's feelings when it suits him."

By this point the Doctor was halfway up the stairs and advancing on Rose at a fast rate of knots.

"Oh no, you can't get 'round me this time by being all heroic and dashing," Rose protested. "You think I've forgotten the whole Martha business. Well, I haven't!"

"Leave Martha out of this," he demanded.

"As if I could," Rose grumbled. "You're nothing unless someone blindly idolises you. All you crave is some woman fawning over you. Doesn't matter who, apparently. You don't care if she isn't suitable, some old has been or a fat lesbian. You're all about the fangirling. OH!"

Her exclamation was because he'd reached her side and had grasped her wrist to shut her up.

"You don't know what you are talking about, Rose," he spat out between gritted teeth. "So keep quiet for once and let me talk. Please."

"Get your hands off me!" Rose shrieked. "I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses or how much you love me."

"Good! Because I wasn't planning on saying that at all," he countered, releasing his tight hold on her.

"What!" she spluttered, almost losing her footing in shock. "What are you on about?"

This was it, he told himself. "I don't love you, Rose. Not in the way you want or have always presumed I do."

Her wide eyes stared at him in disbelief. "Is this what she's got you to say, or is this some kind of sick joke?"

"Neither," he firmly stated. "I have never loved you like that; I merely pretended for your sake. As for Donna, I told her… in fact, I ordered her not to take your phone calls."

This could not be happening; not to her. "You did what! Why?!"

"Because your incessant interruptions are driving me mad. Both of us," he explained. "It's like you don't want to give me a minute to breathe."

"It's not like that, you know it isn't," Rose insisted. "I love you."

"Quite right too," he arrogantly approved. "But you need to stop treating me like a beloved pet."

Rose's bottom lip wobbled as anger and despair warred within her. "Just who do you think you are talking to me like this? Why are you suddenly being so horrible to me? Tell me the truth!"

"The truth? Do you really want the truth?" he wondered, shaking his head because he expected her to deny it. "It's because I've had enough of your ploys, Rose. Even hundreds of miles away isn't enough to stop you constantly invading my work."

"Your bloody work! That's all you ever care about."

"Now you sound like an utterly spoilt brat. You're just annoyed that I don't place you above everything else," he argued.

There had to be a reason for this, Rose decided; or someone in particular. "There's another woman involved, isn't there. Who is she? Don't lie. Who has stolen you from me?"

"There is no one else," he insisted.

Below them, Donna's heart clenched in dismay. Yes, she'd known that was the right route for him to take, to deny her having any involvement, but it didn't reassure her about her personal future role in his life.

"I don't believe you," Rose maintained, her jealous hackles rising. "You've got a little tart on the side that you want to shack up with. Come on then, who is she? Is she younger and prettier than me? Tell me her name!"

"Rose," he forlornly murmured. "That isn't the case. Honest. And even if it were, it would not excuse your possessively cloying behaviour. You latched onto me because you have massive daddy issues, and I allowed it because I miss my family."

"Them, again," Rose tutted. "Do you have to?"

"Yes, them! And I **will** mention my family, whether you like it or not," he raged. "I lost my whole family, my world! It tore my heart out and still does. Don't you see? Or are you too thick to even consider I have feelings too? There have been days I could barely get out of bed. I wanted to die at one point so I'm grateful you've distracted me since we first met, but that's all it's been. I don't love you, Rose, and never will beyond seeing you as some sort of pseudo daughter."

"GET OUT!" she roared in anger. "Get out of my house and you can take your ginger fan club and all your other things with you."

"If that's what you want," he evenly replied. "Goodbye, Rose. I'll grab a few things now and arrange to collect the rest later."

"I don't care anymore. Just go," she retorted, trying desperately not to sob her heart out.

He silently descended the stairs and made for his office, ignoring the wails from Rose above him. When the sound of things being thrown about or trashed came down from above them, he pointedly refused to acknowledge Rose's tantrum.

All the while, Donna had been collecting together notes, files, data, and anything else she could easily carry. She watched him pick up items, looking like a lost soul as he did, and her heart wanted to hug him tight.

"I'm really sorry about this," she whispered to him.

He shrugged, trying to distance himself from this new pain. "It can't be helped and was inevitable really. Have you gathered up your things?"

"As much as I can for now," she assured him, "and I've left a note for Jackie, briefly explaining that I'll be in touch."

"Good," he mumbled, "very good." He would miss Jackie but at least she would no longer need to be the buffer between him and Rose. "What time will the taxi get here?"

"He said he should be here within the next ten minutes."

What else could he do but collect the remnants of his life in those last few seconds? "Thanks," he said, giving her arm a brief reassuring touch. "We'd better go and wait for him outside."

To their surprise Rose was standing on the bottom step of the staircase when they re-entered the hallway. She glared at the Doctor with all her might. "Are you off then?"

"Yes, this it. Goodbye, Rose. Have a nice life."

"I will," she petulantly retorted. "Especially without you in it."

He sneered at her in return. "Yeah. Good luck with that." And then he walked calmly out the door.

That left Donna still in the hallway behind him. What should she say to Rose? "I'm so sorry," she sympathetically added. "See you later. Bye."

Rose waited until Donna was almost out of the house. "Yes, run after him like the good little PA you are. He'll break your heart, just like he does with everybody else. You'll only last as long as you can be of use to him, then he'll dump you like a ton of bricks and all that loyalty will mean zilch. He's nothing but a lying, cheating bastard!"

Joining the Doctor out on the gravel, Donna gasped in a lungful of fresh air to clear her aching head. "I got your personal reference just before I left," she joked. "Not exactly something to treasure."

"So I hear," he agreed, spotting their taxi appear on the drive in the distance. "Never mind. Onwards and upwards. Where to now?"

"I've booked us into a hotel near the school," she supplied. "That's as good as a start as any."

He helped her load their cases and bags into the back of the taxi once it arrived. "I'd say it was a brilliant start." He didn't quite manage to beam a smile at her, but it was encouraging.

./-\\.

After checking into their rooms, she left him to carry on having a good mope, and then felt rather at a loss so she rang home.

"Hello Mum. How are you? I'm fine. We've just got back from Spain and having a rest. It was flipping hot there compared to here. What have you been up to? That's nice, I bet Suzette was pleased. Who me? Nah, no sign of a boyfriend. All my time is taken up with looking after Dr Smith. Oh, he's alright. A bit of a Professor Brainstorm at times but with better dress sense. You'd like him. How's Gramps been? Pork pies from the garage shop you say... Well, he has always liked them so surely he can have a little treat every now and then. Give him my love and I'll speak to you later. Have a lovely time at the pictures tonight. Bye!"

She ended her call and looked round her lonely room. If they'd been giving away warmth in a queue this one must have been at the back. Never mind. For a last minute decision it wasn't so bad, despite the uninspiring view of the car park outside the window.

Her revelry was broken by a knock at the day. Opening it, she found the Doctor standing there. Without waiting for an invite, he stepped in and closed the door.

"I've had an idea," he announced. "Why don't we go and have a look at the school tomorrow rather than wait until Friday? That way we'll get a jump on things."

"Are you really expecting something fishy going on that much? Or is this a case of you being bored and needing to fill in an extra day?"

"A bit of both," he sheepishly admitted after pondering on it for a few seconds. "My alternative idea was for us to get blind drunk tonight and spend tomorrow with an impressive hangover."

"Hmm. Tempting, but I'd rather forego the hangover," she replied. "Plus, knowing my luck, getting blind drunk might lead to completely unwanted circumstances."

"Frightened of ending up in bed with me?" he teased.

"No. More like frightened of suddenly finding out I'm pregnant." She winced at the same time he did.

"Good point. Maybe we ought to do a spot of shopping this afternoon and cover our bums, as it were."

She picked up her handbag and checked she had her purse in it. "If it's your bum you're covering, you might be doing it wrong," she joked as they left the room.

"As long as I cover something significant, I'll be doing it right," he joshed in return.

He laughed out loud when she commented, "I'll be the judge on the 'rightness' of your performance."

"The night is young, Donna Noble," he whispered and added in his patented eyebrow waggle.

"Tart," she murmured.

./-\\.

They hired a car and drove the few miles to St Gladys School, taking the scenic route. This time the Doctor was determined to do all the driving, so Donna was able to sit back and enjoy the passing scenery.

"Do you recognise that car behind us?" he suddenly asked. "The green one about three cars back."

She looked. "No. No idea who they are. Do you think they're following us?"

"If they aren't, it's quite a coincidence they are going in exactly the same direction as us," he commented. "I'll pull into the next layby and see what happens."

"What if he gets out?" she fearfully considered.

"Then we either drive immediately away, or we find out why they are following us."

"I don't like this," she confessed in a small voice.

"Hey," he softly comforted her, "you're with me and I won't let anything happen to you. Just think, I'll be Cagney and you can be Lacey."

She laughed, just as he wanted her to. "You do realise that makes me the pregnant one, don't you?"

"It can be arranged," he joked, bringing the car to a halt in a quiet layby.

The offending car drove straight on by.

"There you go. Mystery solved," she remarked. "Sheer coincidence."

But the car was sitting waiting for them in a side turning up ahead when they tried to continue their journey; like some undercover police car.

"Shit!" he swore under his breath. "If Rose has hired someone to follow us to gain evidence, we'd better be extra careful. Do you think you can avoid going all gooey eyed over me for a few hours?"

"And to think I booked those strippers, too," she teased. "Of course I can. D'uh! Who do you take me for?"

"I won't take you," he airily promised, "but I might swap you for a champion conker or a bag of marbles."

So she hit him on the arm. Hard.

./-\\.

"Seems to be a bit of a do going on," she noted when they pulled onto the school grounds, after passing through a large pair of iron gates.

The building was late Victorian or early Edwardian, like most schools were; and next to it sat a chapel. There was another low building that had no sign on it.

An attendant of some sort approached them. "Are you here for the special service?" When they claimed they were, he continued, "His Excellency the Bishop of Leadworth has not arrived yet, so if you could park over to the left there we can all greet him properly."

"Of course." The Doctor parked the car in the allotted area and turned to grin at Donna. "A bishop, eh? Not just anyone when we turn up. One thing I am puzzled by…"

"What's that?"

"Why all the heavy-handed security?" he wondered, pointing to a couple of burly fellows wearing black suits and ear pieces. "A bit over the top, don't you think, for a school?"

"Perhaps they are guarding the altar wine from teenagers who normally guzzle cider," she cheekily suggested. "But whatever the reason is, it's definitely weird."

"Just my sort of situation," he acknowledged with a grin. "Come on."

He led the way across the car park, towards the church buildings. Donna was just about to point out to him the sign denoting the way to the adjacent convent when he swore under his breath.

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" she queried and squinted towards a nearby group of about five men. "Is it those photographers?"

"They're not just photographers, Donna," he stressed. "They are paparazzi. You know; local members of the press."

"I know what paparazzi are," she huffed.

"Yes, but they haven't been following you about for years," he began to explain. "Everywhere we went the paparazzi were there to capture any error, any photo opportunity."

"You mean you and Rose," she corrected. All those images she had seen of them online hadn't been exactly posed for. Instead, they had been stolen, if you wanted to look at it that way. "But why would they be interested in you if you're here with me and not the Vitex heiress? I've never seen a photo of you in the paper on your own."

He sighed in exasperation. "Think about it. We already have reason to suspect a private investigator has been hired to follow me. If Rose has announced to anyone that we've split up, they'll be on the hunt to see who I'm with now."

"Oh." She frowned. "I can't see them being interested in you gadding about with your PA. It's not exactly front-page news."

"That's it!" he enthused. "You are brilliant. All we have to do is act as though I find you completely unattractive. As though there is absolutely nothing between us."

"Just like every other day in my life then," she commented, now seeing this relationship going pear-shaped before it even had a chance to survive.

"No no no," he cried, trying to stop her mood going downwards; gripping her arms to emphasise his point. "This is only temporary because you and me, we are destined to be together. We _will_ get the chance to become 'us'."

"I don't believe in destiny," she faintly replied, now completely distracted by his descending lips.

"You soon will," he murmured, aiming for her mouth.

"I won't get the chance if those photographers see you doing this," she cautioned.

He immediately pulled away. "Ah. Yes. Good idea. We'll make time for that later. Almost scuppered myself then. Sorry. So… we have a church service to attend."

"You dumbo," she fondly chastised him. "You utter prawn. What am I going to do with you?"

"Not in front of the children," he pretended to reprimand her. And then, with a cheeky wink, guided her into the church.

./-\\.


	12. Chapter 12

**Part 12**

.

Avoiding any interest from the attending photographers, the Doctor and Donna walked into the church and were ushered into a pew, along with several other patrons. But it was when the children from the adjacent school were led in that their personal excitement grew.

"There they are!" Donna whispered to the Doctor, gripping his arm in her excitement.

"Don't stand up," he warned as she rose from her seat. But she was already trying to give a little wave and he barely stopped himself from doing so too. "Can you see them?"

"Yes," she supplied as she seated herself. "They're up behind that column; near the big flower arrangement."

He craned his neck to see. "Oh yes," he noted with some relief when he spotted both Jenny and Ben. "They don't look very healthy, do they?"

"No. Better dressed than last time but they look more fragile somehow," she agreed. "Do you think we could ask to take them out for lunch or something?"

"Donna, we hardly know them," he reasoned. "The teachers aren't likely to let us do that, not without an in-depth police check."

Her mood visibly deflated. "I suppose so. We could be murderers or abductors."

"Exactly." He gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "But there's no harm in introducing ourselves to them via their teacher after the service. Make ourselves known in that respect."

"We can do that?" Her eyes shown bright with the possibility.

In that moment he would have promised her the Earth in order to make her happy. "Let's give it a go."

It was when they stood to sing a hymn that Jenny properly eyed them across the church. She hurriedly jabbed her brother in the side before pointing at the two unnamed strangers. Several other children around them turned around to look too; causing quite a stir.

"We've been rumbled," Donna quietly worded to the Doctor. In truth, she was delighted the two children seemed just as pleased to see them as they were. "Aw, look at their little faces. We're going to be famous."

"Erm, Donna," he cautiously answered. "They're not the only ones who have rumbled us."

"Who…?" she started to ask, and then noticed several cameras being turned in their direction. "For the love of Pete! Can't they leave you alone for five minutes?"

"We'll have to hide from them if we are going to talk to Jenny and Ben's teacher today," the Doctor leaned in to whisper.

"Or I could distract them."

"Doing what exactly?" he wondered.

"I don't know. I'll think of something," she replied.

"No, I won't let you do that," he firmly insisted. "We don't want to jeopardise our official visit here tomorrow."

Dipping down out of sight, he fumbled about in his pocket and brought out his pair of sunglasses. "Have you still got your sunhat on you? Put it on, as well as your glasses; and give me your phone to hold."

Hunching beside him, she did as he asked. "What have you got planned?"

"You'll soon see," he whispered back. "Follow me out but keep low. If all else fails, we might need you to fake being ill."

Fortunately, nobody took hardly any notice of them as they creeped along the outer edge of the congregation and out through the door.

./-\\.

Moments later, two people who were evidently tourists suddenly appeared in view on the steps to the church. They were peering at the stonework with great interest, keeping their faces from plain view. Following their curiosity, they gradually made their way around the side of the church and ended up outside a side door that probably led into the vestry.

The woman of the couple had on a large straw hat and her eyes were obscured by enormous sunglasses. "What did you say, honey?" she queried in a loud American voice.

"I said, hunny bunny," the man, now wearing an open necked shirt that revealed far more of his chest than was necessary, loudly repeated for her as he lowered the phone held up high in his hand and over his face, "that we should go look at that." You could say that his accent was similar.

She nodded at him, barely keeping the hat on her head. "Then that's what we'll do,"

A heavily-set man suddenly stepped in their way, halting their progress through the door. When a hand raised the phone and there was an instant flash as a picture was taken, the man visibly reacted with a jerk.

"Sir," he patiently requested, "would you and your wife take yourselves elsewhere, please? This area is restricted."

"Aw, we're so sorry," the man quickly apologised. "This is our first time outside our fair country."

"Yes, sir," the heavy acknowledged with little interest; and then blocked their viewpoint.

"How rude!" the woman exclaimed. "Come on, honey. Let's go see that nice man in the shop."

The pair then sauntered away.

As they walked, their accents dropped, and reverted back to London ones.

"That didn't work," the Doctor commented in his more familiar voice.

"It was worth the risk though," Donna remarked, glad to be back to normal. "Just one question though… What was all that with the 'hunny bunny'? Where did that come from? At least you didn't call me 'cream pie' or something, I suppose."

He looked rather affronted for a second. "I was speaking like an American."

"About that," she began. "You know when you do the whole insulting 'don't do that' malarkey when I try to sound posh? Well, don't do that."

The Doctor turned bright red in embarrassment. "Moving on; time for a new disguise."

"Just don't make me wear the back end of a pantomime horse, that's all I ask," she begged.

"Sometimes, Donna Noble, I wonder where you get your ideas from," he grouched.

Seconds later he cast his gaze about, grabbed her arm, and dragged her in through a doorway in the other building as quickly as possible before they could have been seen.

./-\\.

"Okay, this is different, I'll grant you that," she half complained from behind a modesty panel; adjusting the fall of her black gown. "Have you finished getting all dolled up yet?"

There was a harrumph of disgust. "Donna!" he protested, eking out the two syllables for longer than they deserved. "I do not get 'dolled up' in any shape or form."

She came out from behind her screen and eyed him up and down in his acquired black surplice. "You're right. You don't even look like a demented Ken doll. More like a Richard Chamberlain one from that thing when I was young."

"What Richard Chamberlain thing?"

"The Thorn Birds. Do you remember it?" she pondered. "It was one of my mum's favourites. She made me watch the video loads of times."

"I remember it," he confirmed distantly. "Not your mum watching a video version, obviously, but the programme itself. Is it good that I look a bit like him?"

"In that get up?" she sought to establish. "Yes, it's good. No doubt you'll have loads of little girls swooning all over you in next to no time. It's right up your street."

"Up my street!" he testily proclaimed.

In answer, she patronisingly patted him on the cheek. "Definitely. You love all that sort of attention, you tart. Now say something nice about my outfit and I'll leave you alone… for now."

"Very Julie Andrews," he complimented her ensemble.

"Careful, that might make you my Christopher Plummer," she teased as she adjusted the loose veil around her head. "Now point me towards the chosen people and there might be a wafer in it for you."

./-\\.

Jenny spotted them appear in the school playground before anyone else did. "Doctor!" she squealed with delight and ran over to hug him round his legs.

The teaching nun supervising the children put down her folder she was carrying and scowled at the two uninvited visitors.

"Hello, Sister," the Doctor introduced himself to the teacher. "I'm the Doctor. Dr John Smith and this is my personal assistant, Donna. You aren't expecting us until tomorrow."

"How d'you do," Donna added her greeting. "We don't normally dress like this, Sister."

"Oh?" The nun turned her beady on them. "I had gathered as much."

"You see, we're in disguise, Sister… Sorry, I don't know the rest of your name," the Doctor excused them.

"Sister Margaret," the nun supplied.

"Thank you, Sister Margaret," the Doctor acknowledged. "The paparazzi are a bit keen to take our photo."

Donna nodded. "They snapped us in the church."

"So we sought out a disguise so we could come and talk to you."

"And what's that got to do with young Jenny here?" Sister Margaret asked with concern, especially as the child hadn't let go of him yet.

"We came here because of Jenny and her brother Ben."

"We were more than a bit worried about them," Donna silently mouthed so that Jenny couldn't hear.

"Perhaps we can discuss this over a nice cup of tea while the children play," the Sister offered.

"But I want to stay with you," Jenny petulantly told the Doctor.

"Jenny," he began to explain, gently releasing her grip and squatting down to her eye level, "I need to talk to your teacher otherwise I won't be able to give your surprise tomorrow."

"Now you've gone and done it, Doctor," Donna chided him, guessing he was doing this to gain some time to explain. "Sister Margaret will never let you near Jenny again at this rate."

"I'll be good, I promise," Jenny readily vowed. "What's happening tomorrow?"

"Donna and I are officially coming to visit the school but we thought we'd come and have a sneak peek today, just so we could see you."

"Me?" Jenny echoed with glee.

"You and Ben," Donna added, gaining a beautiful smile. "But we won't be allowed to do that unless we ask for permission first."

Jenny nodded her head. "Got to have persition," she misworded, "so Ben can see you too."

"Exactly," the Doctor confirmed, standing tall again. "So, we'll hopefully see you both after you've had a run around and we've had some tea."

"Why do grownups always want cups of tea?" Jenny wondered. "I'd rather have some orange squash."

"And I'm sure you shall." He placed a hand briefly on her blonde hair in a tender gesture. "Will you tell Ben we were here?"

She nodded solemnly. Then the tears began to flow.

"Why are you crying, sweetheart?" Donna asked and began desperately searching through her bag for a tissue.

"I don't want you to go," Jenny honestly admitted as she was handed the found tissue by Donna. "Can you stay longer?"

Donna looked towards the nun. "It all depends on your teacher, but we'll try." She wanted to cry herself when Jenny wrapped her skinny arms around her waist. "It's okay," she tenderly spoke, giving the poor young girl gentle rubs on her back. "The Doctor and me will ask really nicely."

"Jenny Noble, you have to let our visitors go now," Sister Margaret ordered. "There's a good girl."

Donna was shocked to her core. "Did you say her name is Jenny _Noble_ , or did I hear wrong?"

"Is that a problem?" the Sister asked.

"No. I'm Donna Noble, you see, and him…" She thumbed towards the Doctor. "…his early pen name was John Noble. It's like we were destined to meet."

Sister Margaret smiled brightly. "Or the will of God that you found each other and be together. I'll explain further over tea. If you would follow me?"

She led them into what was presumably the teachers' lounge. They were seated and then she hastened away to get the tea.

"This is weird," Donna whispered to the Doctor. "I mean, I've noticed things tend to go in odd directions with you, as though you've got an improbability drive in your back pocket or something, but you have to admit this takes the biscuit."

"I think you exaggerate a little, Donna. This is all within the bounds of everyday probability."

"Yeah, too right it is," she snorted in disagreement. "Out of all the possible surnames in the country, what is the likelihood of us sharing the exact same one?"

"I... I don't have the statistic to hand," he stammered, "but it isn't impossible. Just a little bit unlikely."

"Story of your life," she murmured. "Do you think they are distant relations of mine? You don't come across many Nobles."

"No, they tend to roam hidden in small herds in the wild," he joked.

"Watch it or our date tonight will be light on the romantic and heavy on the destiny."

"I'm still looking forward to it," he retorted, and grinned disarmingly.

"Stop it! I'm supposed to be angry with you."

His grin didn't go. "Are you sure?"

"No. Ah, there she is. Hello again, Sister."

"Here you are," she said as she handed over a cup of tea to Donna and the Doctor; and then she sat herself down. "Things at home are a little fraught for young Jenny and her brother," Sister Margaret began. "They are one of our poorer families."

"Forgive me for interrupting, Sister, but perhaps we could help their circumstances," the Doctor offered.

"That is very kind of you."

Seeing that she didn't seem to believe him, he added, "I am not without means to do so."

"And why would you do that, Dr Smith?" she wondered. "I do not question your generosity, but these are vulnerable children."

"We…" He looked towards Donna before continuing. "We were rather taken with them when we briefly met Jenny and Ben at Stonehenge. So we followed our instincts and offered to come here formally tomorrow."

"And what happens when you tire of them; when they are no longer considered cute? What then?"

"I don't honestly know if that will happen, but I doubt it," he defended. "It's nothing but a visit for now. We aren't suggesting we'd take them home with us; merely the fact we are concerned enough to see if they are okay."

Sister Margaret considered their eager, sincere faces and knew there sparked the idea of a greater connection if it was allowed. This couple had a lot of love to offer a child that was willing to accept it; they almost glowed with the knowledge. God told her to trust them with the truth. "This is not to go beyond these four walls, but Jenny and Benedick..."

"His full name is Benedick! How sweet," Donna burst out and then hurriedly shushed herself. "Sorry. Carry on."

"As I was saying," the Sister patiently continued, "Jenny and Benedick live with their ailing grandmother. She is their only relative so when the end comes, they will be taken into care."

"How sad," Donna noted. "Hang on, her name wouldn't be Joan Noble, would it?"

"I don't know without checking and I do not have her permission to give out that sort of information. Why do you ask?"

"Because my dad's eldest brother moved out this way, and he died ages ago. There was talk about his son and daughter-in-law tragically dying but I have no idea if any children are involved. I'll phone Mum later and find out."

"So you could be related," the Doctor reasoned.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Blimey! This is big. I mean, Mum would never let them go into care if she can help it. She'd move heaven and earth to help. Or I could…" That's when she faltered and guiltily glanced at the Doctor. "Hark at me letting my mouth run away with me! We've not even picked out our new home yet and I'm considering throwing you in at the deep end. Sorry. Take no notice of me. Of course Mum'd have them if it turns out they're Uncle Harry's grandchildren. You can't let family down like that."

Sister Margaret merely smiled genially. Yes, it would seem God had sent her a sign after all. "Perhaps you would like to talk it over with your family first and let me know tomorrow. We look forward to seeing you return."

./-\\.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** sorry for the delay in updating this.

* * *

 **Part 13**

.

They'd quickly agreed with Sister Margaret to get the surplices they'd borrowed cleaned, pressed and returned to the church as soon as possible; and then they were on their merry way, sneaking past what was left of the paparazzi outside the church, to get to the car in order to drive away. At least, Donna first thought so, but she soon became worried about the Doctor's mood once they left the school grounds.

His expression seemed to darken the further away they got from St Gladys' School. In fact, the Doctor was pensive all the way back to the hotel, keeping his eyes fixed rigidly on the road ahead. Every conversation Donna tried to start became stilted so in the end she gave up and listened to the car radio instead. It was better that way.

Who'd have thought this would be the reason for their first argument; once they actually spoke to each other about it, of course.

She let him stay silent once they got out of the car and had made their way to their rooms, but she was determined it would end at the door. When he tried to gain access to his bedroom and go in without her she was not having that! No sir. So she stepped deliberately in his way.  
When he glared at her impudence, she accosted him with, "Come on, out with it. What's flown up your nose?"

"There's nothing wrong with me," he insisted, pushing past her through the doorway. "You're seeing fault where there is none."

"Oh yeah?" she scoffed in disbelief, following him in and closing the door behind them. "All that silence on the way here and you throwing a mooey face was nothing? I see. Or rather, I'll tell you what I see. I see a lying toad who won't tell me the truth. And do you know how that makes me feel?" He inevitably shook his head. "It makes me wonder why I'm even trying to build a relationship with you, as a friend or something more, because people who care about each other share stuff and gain the support they need. Just tell me if you don't want all that from me and I'll leave you to stew on your ownsome."

It was as she turned to leave his room that he stammered out, "Okay. I have a few problems with what happened earlier."

"Lots of things happened earlier," she pointed out patiently. "You'll have to be more specific."

"I'm referring to our talk with the teacher. Sister Margaret," he revealed, sitting himself on the edge of the bed. She dutifully sat on the only chair in the room, facing him without intimidating him with her nearness. "This may sound selfish, but when you were talking about the likelihood of being related and possible adoption, it didn't feel right. It makes me worry the more I think about it. A visit to see them is one thing, as is a donation, but to consider throwing open my home to two children I hardly know? I'm not sure I can cope with that idea," he confessed.

This was exactly what she had feared. "Oh John, this must be so hard for you and I'm really sorry for suggesting it," she quickly assured him. "Forget I ever mentioned it. It'll be bad enough for you living with me let alone all that business."

"Donna," he gently spoke, "after losing my own children, I can't..." His head drooped as he held in the painful memories.

Moving closer, she placed her hand on his arm, wanting to offer more in comfort but frightened to overstep the mark. "You don't have to, and I don't expect you to. Honest I don't. It'd be a lot to take on a sheer whim. If it was just me on my own, I'd jump at the chance. Taking on somebody else's kids don't bother me in the slightest. But that isn't the case; I have you now to take into consideration, and it'd be unfair to expect you to even give it some serious thought. Mum will take care of it if they are family, I know she will, so I'd get to be part of their life that way. That'd be more than plenty for me, so don't you go feeling all guilty about it."

Lifting up her hand, he pressed his lips to the back of it in gratitude. "You really are brilliant. Do you know that? I am extremely lucky to have you in my life."

"Geroff," she blustered in embarrassment at the compliment, and sought to find a change of subject. "You won't be thinking that when you eventually taste my cooking. Which reminds me; we need to finalise the list of places we'll be viewing this weekend."

"Should be fun," he murmured, "our own little home."

"You're secretly terrified, aren't you?"

"Just a bit. Okay, a lot," he admitted, blowing out a breath though his teeth. "It's all too domestic for me after all this time avoiding it."

Of course he'd be petrified, poor man. "Never mind. Battling domesticity needn't be a lonely job. You've got me to hold your hand through the scary bits," she readily offered. "Talking of which, I'll call Jackie right now and put in a request to go and collect the rest of your stuff. No time like the present to get this initial step over and done with."

Giving him a quick peck on the cheek for courage, she rang Jackie Tyler's number, and let him potter about pretending he was making notes when he was actually silently listening in to her conversation.

"Hello Jackie. How are you? It's me, Donna. Oh, I'm fine. You know. Typing and organising stuff as usual. How are things your end? Yes, it was a shame they broke up but not such a great shock. We'd suspected it'd happen. He's been keeping himself busy. Unable to keep still, as per usual. We've not got a definite place to live yet but we hope to finalise that this weekend. No flies on us when things need to be done. Talking of his new home, he will eventually need to come and get the rest of his stuff from his rooms. Do you have any idea when that might be possible?"

On the other end of the line, Jackie was frantically thinking. "Ooh, I don't know," she replied, rubbing her forehead. "It all depends on how Rose feels when I ask her for you. Between you and me, I think she wants to patch things up with him if she can. She did fly off the handle a bit."

"Yes, but it understandable in the circumstances," Donna assured her, not wanting to diss the girl in any way. "How has she been taking it?"

"Not well at all. There's been lots of crying and sulking about, as you'd expect." Jackie suddenly went quiet. "Talk of the devil, here she is. I thought she wouldn't be home yet. Hang on…. Hello Rose. You're home early. Did you have a nice time? I'm just on the phone to a friend. If you must know, it's Donna. What do you mean?" There was the sound of a scuffle. "Rose! No!" Jackie cried, but the phone was wrenched out of her hand anyway.

"I _will_ talk to her and I don't care what you say!" An emotional voice came on the line asking, "Donna?"

"Hello? Oh, hello Rose. What can I do for you?" Donna asked.

"I wondered if you can help me," Rose began to explain. "I need to ask you a question. Can you tell me why you have been in church?"

"Pardon!" How did she know? "What makes you think that?" Donna countered.

"Because an online newspaper has photos of the Doctor and you coming out of a church service done by the Bishop of Leadworth," Rose supplied. "In fact, there are several shots of you two whispering together like you usually do."

"Are the photos any good?" Donna instantly wondered, and then mentally berated herself. "Let me have a look…" She dragged near a laptop and opened it up, clicking on a search engine. "What newspaper is it?"

"It doesn't matter which newspaper it is, or how you look," Rose testily grouched. "I want to know if you were there for a special reason. Well?!"

"Not really. It was a sheer coincidence the bishop was there," Donna insisted. "We'd planned a visit to the school next to the church." Then a thought struck her. "What sort of special reason do you suspect us of having?"

"Nothing," Rose tried to deny. "I was just wondering if he was planning a wed- particular service there."

To be honest, Donna wanted to laugh out loud at Rose suspecting him of running off and marrying another woman. He was the sort of bloke who accidentally ended up married rather than intended to elope.

"Would it help if I swore he isn't trying to arrange any such service; not even a Christening." Oops! That sounded bad. "Or especially a Christening. What I'm trying to say is that he hasn't eloped with another woman."

"Thanks, Donna," Rose sighed with relief. "You would tell me if anything like that happened, wouldn't you?"

"With the way the press followed him about today, I assume I won't have to IF such a thing ever happens, but of course I would," Donna assured her. "You'd be the first to know. Sorry, I have to go so I'll speak to you another time. Tell Jackie I said goodbye for me. Bye."

"Well?" the Doctor asked as she put the phone down.

"You're going to have to talk to her yourself eventually, you do know that, right? Anyway, it's too soon to expect her to agree to arrange much beyond a reconciliation." She peeped to see if he was pleased or not at the suggestion, but he wasn't giving much away. "On that note, I'm going back to my room to have a shower."

"I think I'll have a shower too," he considered, "then we'll decide where to eat later."

"Doctor," she began, standing with her hand on the door latch to leave, "I know it looks as though I'm trying to trap you into having a sort of marriage with children, but I'm really not. If you decide that you don't want any of this, I'll understand; even if you want to go back to Rose."

She could still do professional acquaintance, she told herself as she pulled a protective cloak of indifference around herself.

"Thanks," he murmured and didn't say anything else while she left him on his own.

./-\\.

Sister Margaret stood proudly in front of the assembled pupils of St Gladys School sitting obediently on the wooden hall floor and waved her hands to quieten their chatter down. "Now children, we have a wonderful surprise for you all. Dr John Smith is a famous author and he has kindly agreed to come and give us a talk. I'll leave talking about what he writes to him, so without further ado, Dr John Smith." She began applauding, and all the children eagerly joined in.

One little boy in the second row seated cross legged on the floor gawped at the Doctor in shock, then elbowed the nearest child. "I know him," he gleefully whispered.

"Good morning everyone," the Doctor greeted his audience; and resisted personally greeting Ben for the time being although he did give him a tiny wave.

To his amusement they all chimed a return greeting.

"Most of you won't have heard of me but I write science fiction books. In particular, I write books with lots of aliens. Have any of you ever met one?" There was shaking of heads and a chorus of 'no's. "On my travels I have met some very strange creatures. Would you like to see some of them? Sadly, I couldn't bring them here in person, but we took film footage." He pointed a finger to his side. "If you could do the honours, Donna, please?"

Donna obediently leapt into action, clicking on the visual display they had devised the previous evening.

On the screen set up behind him, several weird and wonderful creatures appeared in sequence; and he chatted on about all of them. Things like where he had seen them, what they ate, and any gruesome details that would entertain his audience.

The talk went really well, with lots of enthusiastic participation from the children.

When the Doctor seemed to tire, Sister Margaret walked to the front to end proceedings. "Dr Smith has promised to stay around a bit longer to answer your questions, so we are going to ask you to write him a short story about the day you met an alien. He will help wherever he can and choose his favourite at the end of the morning."

He truly was in his element, Donna noted to herself as she watched him encounter numerous small children. They all wanted to gain his attention, and he did his level best to provide it. It was lovely to see him engage with them all as he read various bits and pieces or admired artwork. And if she still harboured a dream where they became parents, that wasn't harmful for now, was it? Hope and pride had burst into her heart when Ben had got his moment in the spotlight, reading his composition aloud and being called to accompany the Doctor through the classrooms; especially when they met up with Jenny.

At one point Jenny had practically taken up residence on the Doctor's lap, and Ben was doing his best to keep Donna's attention by regaling her with tales of aliens he had seen in various films. They'd shared a conspiratorial smile over the children's heads when future visits had been mentioned.

Yes, her and the Doctor planned a visit alright. One that might lead to something else entirely after the brief telephone conversation she'd had with her mother the night before. Sylvie had been about to go out, but she'd promised to phone back as soon as possible.

By the time lunchtime arrived, Donna was back to feeling hopeful and looking forward to contacting someone else entirely.

./-\\.

She wasn't exactly surprised when her phone rang almost an hour later when they were back at the hotel. With a great deal of excitement buzzing inside her, she answered the phone. Unfortunately, it was not the call she had been expecting.

It was Rose and this time she didn't waste time with pleasantries. "Who are the children?"

"What children? Where?" Donna vaguely answered.

"Don't play games with me," Rose seethed. "There are new photos of him with children and two in particular; a boy and a girl. And he seems rather keen on them. The boy looks just like him."

Not another website posting! If Rose thought that about Ben, then the press would have a field day with the story. Donna clicked on a new tab on her laptop and rested the phone in the crook of her neck as she typed something into the search bar. "What website, where?"

She was met with the sound of sobbing.

"Tell me, Donna, please," Rose begged. "Has the Doctor been hiding a secret family away from me?"

"Oh Rose, of course he hasn't," Donna quickly replied sympathetically, grabbing the phone back up properly. "I'd never let him do that to you, you know that." It broke her heart to hear her former employer cry on the phone. "We just happened to meet the children when they had a school trip, and the Doctor promised their school he'd go along and do a talk about being an author. It's nothing worse than that, honest."

"No secret wife and family?"

"I swear by all that is Holy that he doesn't have a family he's been hiding from you." It seemed quite an apt oath in the circumstances, she thought. "They are just a cute little boy and girl we met."

"He seemed quite taken with them in the photos," Rose reasoned.

"Well, he does like children and has a way with them," Donna admitted, smiling fondly at the memory.

"I wanted to have children one day," Rose confessed. "But he won't discuss it."

"That's hardly surprising considering his loss," Donna argued. "It takes time to get over these things."

"But that was ages ago!" Rose complained. "He should be over it by now."

Ah, the blinkered view of youth. "It isn't that long ago for him, Rose," Donna gently pointed out on his behalf. "Probably feels like only ten minutes. Anyway, it's still fresh in his mind."

"I suppose so," Rose allowed, trying to convince herself. "Do you think he will come back to me?"

"I don't honestly know. It isn't up to me to decide that."

"But you should know whether he wants to or not," Rose pressed.

"You really need to talk to each other about this. Get it sorted out. All the whys and the wherefores," Donna replied. "Do you want me to arrange a meeting for you?"

"Please," Rose requested. "Thanks, Donna."

She really hoped Rose would continue to thank her when she found out the truth, but she very much doubted that. Instead, she'd be lucky to come out alive.

./-\\.


	14. Chapter 14

**Part 14**

.

The phone call from Sylvia had confirmed it, the children's grandmother was probably related to them, and she had a contact number as well as a possible address. There was only one thing to do once Donna had this news: give her a call.

Seeing how excited and agitated Donna was by this, the Doctor had ditched his sulk and immediately offered support. She desperately wanted this connection, after all, and he was both drawn and scared by it. "Go on. Go ahead and call your aunt. We won't know until you do."

"But what if she isn't their grandmother?" she had fretted.

"What if she is?" he had countered. "Find out for certain and we'll sort everything else out later."

"Okay. Here goes," she geed herself to dial the number. In a flurry, she pressed the buttons and then listened for the call to be answered.

"Hello. Auntie Joan? It's me, Donna. Geoff and Sylvia's girl. How are you?" Holding nervously onto the phone, Donna listened carefully to the response, enjoying the delighted surprise on the other end of the line. "We're okay. I'm just down here here working near you for a couple of days and was wondering if it'd be alright to pop in and see you tomorrow morning before heading for home? You will? That'd be lovely! Are you still in Rectory Road? Hang on, let me write that down… Number nine. Shouldn't be too hard to find. Is there anything you need me to bring with me? If there is, just give me a call on this number. No problem. See you then, about ten. Bye." She turned to the Doctor in triumph. "That's all fixed for tomorrow morning. All I have to do is book rooms for tomorrow night and we're done."

"About that." He gave an embarrassed cough. "Don't you think it's about time we booked a double room?" he coyly wondered. "If you are keen to save money and... erm… want me… I mean… us to erm..."

"Let's see what's available first," she teased, nervously trying to hide her own agitation.

They'd kissed, obviously, and done a bit of petting but it hadn't gone much further than that. Should she be pleased he'd acted so gentlemanly towards her, or worried he wasn't exactly raging to take things further? You never know with blokes. There's always a hidden problem waiting to attack you.

He faintly nodded. "I'm not hurrying you but please consider my request." Then he wrapped his arms around her and announced, "It's gone five o'clock. Time for our non-working time to begin."

"John," she slightly chastised.

"What? We agreed we'd have a date tonight," he grumbled, relaxing his hold. "Do I detect a hint that you might not be quite as comfortable with our relationship as I'd hoped?"

"It isn't…" She began to shake her head in answer, but his steady gaze made her retract the denial. "Okay, it is that."

"Why?"

Sighing, she admitted, "I suspect I'm about to lose my job when Rose finds out about all this. And things could get extremely awkward when we start living together if we have a massive row or fall out. It's a really big step setting up home with each other when we've not even been an item properly yet."

"We've spent a lot of time alone together without wanting to kill one another, so I presume our friendship is fairly well established by now," he argued. "And it is I that employs you, not Rose. I merely asked her to carry out the interview process."

Donna raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You asked?"

He gritted his teeth. "Alright. She volunteered; and you know why. Kind of backfired on her."

"Big time," she agreed. "Perhaps I ought to ask you write my personal reference before things can go badly wrong."

"It won't," he insisted, resuming his hug. "I shall make sure it doesn't; especially if it stops us doing this." He gently kissed her lips in demonstration.

"Keep doing that and I own won't want to go out for dinner," she gently warned.

"Oh dear. How awful," he murmured sarcastically against her skin; enticing her with his nearness. "Let's risk it, shall we?"

Her answer was swallowed by a groan of delight.

./-\\.

It was just after ten o'clock the following morning when they finally walked up the front path of the house they hoped was the correct one. It had been a fraught ten minutes getting totally lost before getting there.

"Hello Auntie Joan! We finally got here," Donna greeted her long-lost relative when the door eventually opened to reveal a fragile old lady.

"Don't tell me; you took a wrong turning at the crossroads," Joan guessed. "Everybody does that."

"Phew that it wasn't just us then," Donna sighed, and immediately hugged her aunt. "It's good to see you again."

"And you," Joan replied, easing out of the hug. "Long time no see. Come in and tell me all the news and who this young man is." She turned and led the way down the passage towards the lounge at the back of the house.

"Have our visitors arrived?" an eager young voice asked from above them, and then the face of Ben appeared, peering at them over the bannister. "It's you!" he cried in delight. "Jenny, quick! It's Donna and the Doctor!"

"Hello young man," the Doctor greeted him; and then had to cover his ears to blot out the scream that came from Jenny.

"Jenny!" Joan chastised as the child swept in behind them and grasped the nearest visitor around the waist.

It happened to be Donna. She hugged the trembling child around her thin shoulders. "Hello, Jenny; Ben. My my. We weren't expecting to see you here."

The Doctor quirked an eyebrow at her, but she resolutely ignored him noting her lie.

"Goodness me. Such a lot of noise," Joan commented, overawed by her grandchildren's reaction. "Sit yourselves down. Do they know you from somewhere?"

Both children nodded.

Taking a seat and carefully manoeuvring Jenny to sit by her side, Donna replied, "Yes. We were at their school this week. This is Dr John Smith. He's an author so we went into the school so that he could give a talk."

"He's her husband," Jenny proud announced.

"No, he's not," Ben corrected in disgust.

"We aren't married, Jenny," Donna gently added, "but he is my… What's the correct word to use?" she asked the Doctor.

"Lover," Ben supplied; and the Doctor blushed a bright pink.

Hastily adjusting his collar, the Doctor noted, "Not quite the word I would have used."

"They use that word on the telly," Ben defended himself. "Shall I put the kettle on, Nan?"

"Yes please, darling," Joan encouraged him, and then quietly told the Doctor, "He don't mean nothing by it. That boy wouldn't hurt a fly and would hate to upset you."

"Oh, I'm not upset," the Doctor assured her, "just a bit taken aback for a moment."

Joan chuckled. "Kids, eh? So, you're a writer. Have you written anything I might have heard of?"

Sitting to the side of them, Donna zoned out their chatter a little bit as she took in their surroundings. The place was as clean as a house-proud old person with vision and heart problems was likely to be. Nothing had been replaced in years, and the threadbare carpet beneath their feet was downright dangerous in places. "I'll go help Ben," she whispered to Jenny, "and you keep the Doctor company for a second or two. Alright?"

Jenny nodded her agreement and scuttled over to the Doctor when Donna stood up. Outside in the galley-shaped kitchen she found Ben collecting together the tea things.

"Hello. I've come to give you a hand," she told him.

"Thanks!" he cheerily acknowledged and pointed out where the milk and sugar were in the cupboards.

Opening various doors, Donna quietly noted the general absence of food in the fridge and main cupboards; and tried not to show how upset she was on Ben's behalf. "Do you do much cooking?" she casually asked him.

"Nan doesn't like me doing complicated stuff," he admitted, in case I hurt myself or make too much of a mess." He watched as Donna dealt with the boiling kettle and smiled in relief. "Beans on toast is my speciality."

"Is it?" Donna answered as though he had mentioned a cheese soufflé. "Remind me to take you home with me sometime and show me the works."

He grinned. "You're on."

"Tell you what; add on an egg or some grated cheese and we might be in business," she suggested.

"Beans on top of the cheese," he amended in all seriousness.

"Now we're talking," she enthused. "Mm. You can't beat it. Especially with a dollop of brown sauce."

"My dad used to add Worcester Sauce," Ben reminisced. "Sorry," he hastily apologised. "We don't talk about…"

"It's okay," she quietly assured him. "I won't tell unless you want me to." And mimed zipping her lip.

The gesture made him giggle. This had to be the best visit ever, he decided. "How come you're visiting Nan?"

"Ah," she drawled. "I'll tell you that in a second, when we've taken this tea in. Come on." She picked up two mugs and let him follow her out.

Joan immediately resumed their conversation. "How's your mum? Sorry again about not being able to make it to your dad's funeral."

"Don't worry," Donna insisted, handing the Doctor a mug before settling herself down again. "We knew you had a few problems of your own to cope with, but we weren't aware you had these two scallywags to look after."

"It's not the sort of thing you go around broadcasting," Joan commented, and sighed.

"Mum's fine," Donna stated. "In fact, she sent me some photos you might be interested to see." With that, she pulled out her phone and opened up the photo app. "This one she sent this morning you should remember."

She passed the phone to Joan who peered intently at the screen. "Is that…?"

So Donna shuffled closer on her knees and pointed to the people in the displayed photo. "There's Dad, Uncle Harry, me and Tom."

"Let me look," begged Jenny, so Donna pulled her onto her lap and twisted the phone for Jenny to see better.

"That's your granddad," she pointed out, "and that little boy is your dad."

"Where?" Ben leapt forward to see, so Donna adjusted her hold.

The Doctor peered over her shoulder. "Ben looks a lot like his dad, doesn't he?"

Joan agreed. "Whereas Jenny is more like her mum. Strange how that sort of thing happens."

"Just out of interest," Donna began to ask the Doctor, "did you look anything like Tom when you were young?"

"Not really," he answered. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing," she quickly dismissed. "Just something someone said. And I don't think I've seen any photos of when you were young."

"I could say the same about you," he stressed. "It's not exactly the sort of thing you tend to carry about with you."

"Yeah." But it continued to puzzle her. Apart from the photos un-posed with Rose in the newspapers, she'd never seen a photo of him. For all she knew he had only just come into existence.

"Does that mean you are part of our family?" Jenny suddenly eagerly asked. She'd obviously been bursting to ask her question.

Donna couldn't hold back her grin and she confirmed, "Your nan is my Aunt Joan, and your dad was my cousin; so I'm sort of your auntie, in a special way."

"Really! That's brilliant. Can I show you my books?" Jenny then requested.

"Jenny," Joan chastised, "they've only just got here."

"It's okay. Why don't you show the Doctor, eh?" Donna suggested to the child. "I need to talk to your nan for a moment, and he'd also love to see your dinosaur collection."

"Would I?" he faintly murmured in her ear.

"Yes, you would. Now go be a good guest and admire their stuff," she chided him.

Jenny didn't need any more encouraging to grab his hand and drag him upstairs to view their things. Ben was just as keen but not as hands on as he chatted about what he wanted to show the Doctor.

"They've certainly taken to your new boyfriend," Joan remarked to Donna as they watched them go. "Now what is it you want to say to me?"

After blustering over the thought that the Doctor truly could be classed as her boyfriend now, even though the term seemed rather offensive and ageist, Donna put on her most reassuring smile. "Why didn't you tell us?" she softly wondered. "If we had known how much trouble you were having coping after Tom's death, we'd have come down to help in a shot."

"Well," Joan argued, "it's not the sort of thing you like to admit or foist on people."

"But we're family," Donna pressed. "If we can't help you, who can?"

"That's what's been worrying me," Joan admitted. "With littluns to look after and feed when I don't often feel up to it, it's been hard. But you can't expect people, even family, to drop everything and rush over."

"From now on, me and Mum want to help in any way that we can."

"As you can see, they're both lively," Joan gratefully warned.

"They are also lovely, intelligent children," Donna countered, "full of wonder about the world."

"Didn't you visit their school, you say?" Joan eyed her suspiciously.

"We did," Donna readily confessed. "We made the decision after meeting them at their Stonehenge trip. There was just something about them that drew me to them. And now I know it was Tom I saw in their personalities."

"You were good friends as kids," Joan noted.

"We were. Thick as thieves at times, until you moved further away down here," Donna nodded. "I'd like to make it up to him somehow by taking his children out for the day, make a fuss of them, give you a break for a few hours, or send them some treats, that sort of thing."

Joan smiled. "That would be nice. I have to warn you, if you are planning anything soon, the hospital are taking me in to try and sort this stent out the end of next week."

"How long for?"

"About four days they said."

Mentally calculating where they might be living then, Donna confidently assured her, "We can do that. It'd be no problem for the kids to stay with us or Mum."

"Thank goodness for that." Joan breathed a huge sigh of relief. "It'll save them going into foster care. Is it alright to tell social services?"

"Of course it is." Donna placed her hand over her aunt's. "You've got all of us now, so don't you worry. We'll make sure Ben and Jenny are well looked after, and you can concentrate on getting better."

They both knew that wasn't going to happen, but they refused to acknowledge the point. Not while they shared a common goal in caring for the two children.

"Where do I get in touch with you?"

In answer, Donna pulled out of her bag a small plastic folder. "I've written down everything you'll need to know and put it in here. Mum's address, phone numbers, email, all that stuff, so your social worker should be able to easily get hold of me at a moment's notice. Or just phone me whenever you feel like it, about the children, to grumble or just have a chat. I don't mind. As long as you don't feel you're on your own anymore, that's all I want."

"You're a good kind girl," Joan stated. "And a blessing."

"Can you tell my mum that," Donna joked, causing them both to laugh. She then looked up to see the Doctor returning with his new entourage. "And there he is. Are you ready to go and have lunch somewhere?"

"I thought...," he stumbled over his words, and extricated his right hand from Jenny's grasp to run his fingers agitatedly through his hair. "Would it be okay to take Jenny and Ben out with us? We've got time before we have to be in Westwood Combe."

"We're viewing a property later," Donna supplied for her aunt. "Is it alright to take you all out first?"

"Oh no, dear. Not me," Joan insisted. "You take them out and I'll stay here to have a bit of a rest. Bring them back whenever you like. There's no rush."

"I dunno if I should." Donna playfully eyed Ben, causing him to giggle. "I might be tempted to keep them."

His smile grew brighter. "Can we go, Nan?"

"Go on, go get yourselves ready," Joan told them, and basked in their shrieks of excitement as they rushed to get their shoes and coats on.

"How long do you really want us to take them out for?" Donna quietly asked.

"All day, if you want. Makes a change for them to be able to run about for a while so bring them back when you need to."

Unbeknown to Donna, the Doctor was also silently vowing to amuse the children for as long as they could.

./-\\.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** sorry for the long delay in updating this.

* * *

 **Part 15**

.

"I'd forgotten how exhausting all the questions can be," the Doctor quietly admitted later as they left the children back home.

In answer, Donna had merely smirked in understanding.

The children had been told by their grandmother to hold their hands for safety, and Jenny had been determined to obey the order at every opportunity, rarely letting go when they were out of the car. Whereas Ben had clearly targeted Donna as his main focus of attention, seeing as she was family and had known his father. He'd been full of questions about Tom's childhood and was eager to see anything Sylvia might still possess among her memoirs.

When the topic of where to eat lunch cropped up, the Doctor had insisted they not visit a fast food restaurant but take the children to somewhere a lot quieter and genteel. "The children aren't used to eating at such places," he'd argued, "and neither am I."

"For completely different reasons," Donna had playfully retorted. "Snob."

"Am I?" he queried. "Nevertheless, Mrs Noble must be reassured that we will not fill her grandchildren up on junk food that could upset their stomachs."

"Out and out snob," she teased. "But you're right. All those food additives could send them loopy."

"I'm glad we agree," he replied.

In a nearby town they found a restaurant that specialised in locally produced decent food. It even had crisp white tablecloths.

"This is right up your street," Donna commented as they were seated by the host at a table for four. "Very swish."

The Doctor chose to ignore the remark and confidently ordered them all drinks from the waitress instead.

Jenny anxiously leaned near Donna to ask, "Do we have to whisper in here?"

"No, although we obviously don't want you running around shouting," the Doctor pleasantly answered.

"But we don't have to worry about that sort of thing with you two. Do we, Doctor?" Donna sought assurance by aiming the last it at him.

He pretended to examine Jenny carefully over the top of his menu to see if she would be noisy, but she noticed the cheeky gleam in his eye and burst into giggles. "What?" he pretended to innocently query. "Why are you laughing?" he continued to wonder, making her and Ben giggle all the more.

Of course the good atmosphere had to be broken by a phone ringing as they finished eating. Donna dragged out her mobile from her bag and scowled for a moment at the caller ID.

"Hello?" She mouthed to the Doctor that it was okay, it was her mother, so he went back to the face pulling contest he was having with Ben. "We're just about to have dinner together with them. Was there a problem? Okay then, I'll talk to you later. Bye!" She grinned at the children. "That was your Great Aunt Sylvia; my mum. You'll get to meet her next week."

"What's she like?" Ben asked eagerly.

"I haven't actually met her yet," the Doctor admitted as Donna scrolled through various photos on her phone to find the right one. "Perhaps I will see her next week too."

"You'll probably get a different experience to these two," Donna warned as she tilted the phone for the children to see easily. "That's her, and this one is Mum with Gramps, my granddad."

"He looks nice and cuddly," Jenny enthused. "Will we see him too?"

"I should think so," Donna replied, putting her phone away. "He can't wait to meet you two. Been up into the loft to drag out old toys and everything, Mum said."

Ben grinned in relief. It sounded as though they were going to be welcomed into this new part of the family. "Will we have to call Great Aunt Sylvia 'Nan'?"

"Only if you want to," Donna assured him. "But all that's a long way down the road. Let's worry about viewing these houses this afternoon first, and the rest will sort itself out."

"So, will we be living with you?" Jenny wondered.

Donna wriggled awkwardly in her seat. "Erm…" How should she honestly answer that one?

"That must be decided later too," the Doctor stated. "First, Donna and I have to find somewhere to live more permanently than a hotel room."

Ben's face scrunched up in thought. "Only the one?"

Instead of answering, Donna gasped, "Is that the time? Blimey! We'd better get our bums in gear if we don't want to be late. Do you need the toilet before we leave? Get your coats on and we'll get going."

The Doctor shared a sympathetic look with her. Yes, it was best that they didn't discuss their temporary living arrangements for the time being.

./-\\.

"Ah, there you. Dr Smith. Mrs Smith. Good to meet you. Lovely children you've got there," the letting agent greeted them at the gate, offering a handshake to the adults. He turned his attention on to the boy before him. "And what's your name, young man?"

"I'm Ben," he proudly stated, "and this is my sister Jenny. We might be living here."

"Indeed you might," the agent schmoozed. "Shall I show you all around property number one?"

Donna couldn't help whispering, "Shall we lay bets on how many times he makes a mistake about our relationship?"

The Doctor cheekily smiled in response. "Are you still willing to be mistaken for my wife, Donna? This is getting to be a habit I think you like."

She blushed furiously, caught out in a fantasy she hadn't acknowledged to herself, let alone would give voice to. "It was bound to happen when the children are with us," she blustered. "Nothing more than that."

But her heart beat faster when he leaned in to whisper, "Who knows what might happen in the future."

Jenny bounced up to ask, "Can we explore, please?"

He caught hold of her hand to gently caution, "Be careful. Remember this is someone's home, and don't touch anything you shouldn't."

She confidently grinned at him. "We won't. Promise."

"I'll look after her," Ben readily vowed. "Come on, Jenny."

And the two children practically skipped away to investigate the house and gardens, leaving the adults to saunter through at their own pace.

"This one has plenty of space should you want a guest room or study," the agent babbled his selling spiel as hey climbed the staircase, "and the garden is a nicely maintainable size for a family. The previous owners used this room as a nursery." He then led them into a sunny bedroom painted in muted colours.

They pointedly didn't look at each other as they mulled over the implication. "Yes," the Doctor coughed. "Quite. Not exactly a decision we will have to make."

The agent wisely did not pass further comment. "I'll leave you to look around for a few minutes and then we'll head towards the next property."

This was fast becoming Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Donna thought as they viewed the next property. Everyone looked perfectly okay to her, but the Doctor groused about each one not being quite right.

Eventually the letting agent opened the door to the third property option. "And here we have number three: Plum Tree Cottage," he announced, stepping over the threshold. "It dates back to the late eighteenth century, has four double bedrooms upstairs, a modernised kitchen and comes with an acre of land."

"It's really pretty," Donna commented. "What do you think?"

"It's alright so far," the Doctor cautiously responded. "We need to see some more of it."

"Children, do you want to see the garden?" the agent offered. When they eagerly agreed, he commented to the Doctor and Donna, "It will give you the chance to have a proper look round without interruption. Choose which bedroom will be which. And you never know if you'll need a nursery after all. New house, new baby; they say." He threw what he thought was a charming smile at them as he left them alone in order to open the back door to the garden.

To say Donna wanted to wipe the smarmy grin off the bloke's face would be an understatement. "Yes," she blew out on a breath. "Rub it in, why don't you."

Fortunately, the Doctor had zoned the agent's words out, so had missed the crass joke. His attention was on the current furnishings. "These cottages… they're all so small," he grumbled as they viewed yet another cosy lounge with thick walls, low ceilings, wooden beams and a large brick fireplace.

"What did you expect? Buckingham Palace?" Donna countered. "The trouble is, you're too used to living in a huge place of luxury. Welcome to the real world, mate, where rooms are usually tiny, and you can see where your neighbours live."

"Am I really that spoilt?" he queried, suddenly feeling miffed.

"A bit," she agreed, and pecked a kiss on his cheek in commiseration, "but you'll do."

Ben came running in through the door, utterly breathless for a second. "The garden," he wheezed. "It's huge! There's a swing set, a fancy summerhouse, loads of trees and grass. Lots and lots of grass. I think there's a river at the bottom. Can I go and look?"

"Yes, but be careful," the Doctor. "The last thing we need is you falling in and getting covered in mud. Your nan would never let us bring you out again if that happens."

"Will do," Ben cheerily agreed and shot out of the back door to join Jenny, calling to her to go and look with him.

"So…," Donna cautiously worded her question. "You're planning on taking them out with us again, are you?"

Caught, the Doctor nonchalantly answered, "I might do. I haven't decided yet. But I like this place. What do you think?"

"I'll have another look around, take some photos to do comparisons and then we can decide," she replied. "How does that sound to you?"

"As long as it's over a possible slice of cake and a cup of coffee, I'm fine with that."

The estate agent sauntered in to join them, making notes on his notepad. "Your two certainly seem to like the garden here," he commented. "Any idea if this might be the one?"

"Give us half an hour or so and a chance to have a think and we'll have our final decision ready for you," promised the Doctor. "Now, what were you saying about the central heating here….?"

./-\\.

Surprise number one had been them ushering two children into the car, finding a quaint tearoom close by, having a lovely afternoon tea, and jointly deciding quite easily which cottage was the one for them. To the children's delight, their opinion had been taken into account as they viewed the photo Donna had taken and they'd all discussed the merit of each property.

Having made what they felt was the logical choice, the second surprise was the agent saying the cottage was available immediately, so since they had already been vetted by the letting agency, they could be moving in within a couple of days.

It had made them laugh to see Jenny and Ben jumping about in glee, before tentatively offering suggestions for how they'd decorate their bedroom, should they get to choose to live with Donna and the Doctor.

The third surprise had happened after they had dropped two very tired children off home and gone back to the hotel to celebrate. Back to their room; singular.

So the nicest surprise had occurred when Donna had the chance to wake up in the Doctor's bed the following morning, naked and feeling very satisfied with how things were going.

They'd spent the day before looking at possible places to rent and after several complaints from him about how tiny they felt in comparison to his previous home, a decision was finally made. The winner was Plum Tree Cottage, a four-bedroomed thatched cottage that had originally been two cottages but now knocked into one. It would be their new home for the next six months. Terms for a longer lease could be discussed later if he stuck to his guns and didn't try to move back into Vitex Lodge with Rose.

Somehow, Donna wasn't totally convinced the Doctor had made that mental break yet. After all, all her previous relationships had gone belly up within a few months, once the initial euphoria had waned and the bloke's roving eye had kicked in. Same ol', same ol'. Wash, rinse, repeat. And each time her heart had been broken; except for Lance, where her wrist had been broken too, along with a few ribs. She'd spent months having to pretend she had done it falling off a bike. Her?! As if that'd ever happen.

That sort of thing builds up months of resentment too. It was only the thought of the police searching her browser history that stopped her carrying out the advice she had sought on the internet and actually killed the bugger. Give it time though, she had promised herself to ease away the hours waiting for an opportunity to get her own back.

Quickly shaking her head, she dismissed all thoughts of him, and returned her attention to the handsome naked man lying beside her still fast asleep. She supposed she ought to be blushing at what they'd got up to the night before, but she didn't have the heart to. To think they had waited all this time before succumbing to doing the deed, as her mother would have worded it. Not that her mother would be proud with how they'd rationalised them waiting until now, or the fact it had happened at all. But she might appreciate how cute he looked lying there, all mussed up and wanton.

Unable to resist the action any longer, she leaned over and kissed his lips, hoping for a genial reaction.

"Rose," he murmured, "go back to sleep."

Icy threads instantly reached out and gripped Donna's heart.

He'd said what!

But, her mind reasoned, he'd denied having sex with Rose. Yet he had obviously had her in his bed if he was automatically saying her name in his sleep. Which sort of led to one thought: he'd been lying through his teeth. And if he could lie about something so basic as that, what else had he been lying about? Was there even a dead family to mourn, or had his wife merely buggered off with their kids and/or kicked him out? If that was the case, it would explain how Rose had failed to get him to marry her, and why he had such few belongings to his name.

Yes, she'd already considered all this, but now it had more substance to cling onto.

What should she do if it was true? Well, it wouldn't be the first time a man had tried it on with her then lost interest, let's be honest about that. They didn't normally coerce her into living with them first though. Quite the opposite. At least she had insisted one of the new bedrooms be hers, just in case. She just hadn't thought that 'just in case' to happen so soon; like in 'not even moved in yet' time. That had to be a first for even her.

All he did was slumber on, looking perfectly innocent.

 _But he'd cried afterwards_ , her thoughts reminded her. _He'd been deeply emotionally affected about gaining that connection again after being alone for so long._

'Or perhaps he merely did that each time to make his conquest think she was special,' a voice sounding suspiciously like her mother, insisted. A very persuasive voice

Why did this always happen when she'd only just fallen in love? Feeling even more bitter, she phoned her mum.

"Mum, I don't know what to do," she cried into her mobile. "You have got to come here and get me. Now."

"But Donna," Sylvia flailed. "I thought you were settled. What's gone wrong?"

She took a steadying breath. "Me. I'm the thing that's gone wrong. If I'm left here any longer with him, I'll do something stupid. I know I will."

"What sort of stupid? If you're going to commit murder I want no part of it."

"No, Mum. It's nothing like that. It's my boss, John. I… I love him. I'm sorry; so sorry." She dissolved into tears on the phone.

Now feeling that the imminent danger wasn't quite what she had feared it would be, Sylvia replied, "It's okay, Sweetheart. Realising you've fallen in love with John needn't be the end of the world. What's got you so upset? He's not threatened you, has he?

"No Mum. No, he'd never do that, fortunately, otherwise I'd be on the first train out of here. It's just…" She sniffed back a sob. "I don't think I'm the one that he wants after all and he's been feeding me a pack of lies."

"Oh Donna!" Sylvia crooned sympathetically. "What's he been telling you?"

"That he wants to be with me instead of his ex, that they never slept together. That sort of thing, but…" She wrestled with the thought of revealing more about their new intimate relationship. "I went to wake him up just now and he mumbled her name, as if he was expecting it to be her lying in the bed with him," she confessed on a sob. "What do I do?"

Sylvia rubbed her forehead, deep in thought and possible travel plans. "You need to make certain things are as you think they are before I come gallivanting down there. Ask him what he did with his ex, why he woke up saying her name, and basically find out exactly where you stand. You've got two little mites to think about now before you go burning your bridges."

"Yes," Donna murmured, tears welling up at the thought of losing Jenny and Ben. That little family dream she'd had the day before was rapidly drifting away. "I will. I'll do that right away."

"Let me know how you get on," Sylvia begged. "If it's all gone pear shaped, it would only take me half an hour or so to sort things out then be on my way to get you. Take care and I'll speak to you soon. Bye."

"Bye," Donna forlornly replied and ended the call.

Suddenly the walk back to the bed seemed extremely daunting. This might be the last time she would ever approach him in such a way.

./-\\.


	16. Chapter 16

**WARNING:** contains nudity as well as adult themes.  
 **A/N:** sorry this is a short chapter but it took flipping _ages_ just to get this far. Hopefully the last chapter will manage to be a bit longer.

* * *

 **Part 16**

.

The Doctor snuffled awake and turned over in bed, automatically seeking Donna's warmth with his hand. "Good morning… Where are you?" he wailed, not finding her. Turning his head, he spotted her walking towards him. "What are you doing all the way over there?" he leered, enjoying the naked view until he noticed the concerned expression on her face. "Is something wrong? You don't seem very happy. Is it the children? Has something happened to your aunt?"

On the one hand, she was chuffed that his first concern had been Jenny and Ben, but on the other, her emotions would not let her stray in that direction. She was angry, and she was determined to vent it. "No, they're all fine," she tightly replied. "But there is something you need to explain to me. Right now."

"Oh?" He sat up in the bed and protectively tucked the bed covers around his lower torso.

Taking in an encouraging deep breath, she let out the question that burned through her heart. "Why did you lie to me about not sleeping with Rose when you obviously did?"

"I didn't," he hurriedly denied. "I never slept with her. What makes you think I did?"

"Perhaps the fact you thought I was Rose when you first woke up this morning and told her to go back to sleep," she pithily retorted. "You know, during that time you supposedly didn't have rampant sex with her but magically slept with her anyway."

He paled. "I assure you I didn't," he almost pleaded. "I swear."

"Oh really!" Donna countered.

All he could do for the moment was watch as Donna grabbed a sweatshirt and some pyjama trousers; throwing on clothing to hide her body from his gaze. What could he do to stop gradually feeling this situation was rapidly going from bad to worse? "I would never lie about such a thing."

"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to swallow that load of old tosh?" she blazed. "Own up to it, for god's sake. You bedded her."

"Please," he begged with tears in his voice, "believe me when I say I was telling you the truth."

"The truth? How do I even know what the truth is," she spat back, "when you don't exactly reveal much. You're tighter than a gnat's arse with the truth." She plonked herself down onto the more comfortable chair in the room, crossed her arms and legs, and glared at him. "I'm going to sit here until you tell me what happened. Go on, do yourself a favour and own up."

"I..." He dipped his head, not being able to look at her whilst she judged him so harshly. "I never had full blown sex with Rose," he quietly insisted, "but it wasn't for the want of trying, especially on her part. She tried... Do I really have to go through all this?" he half protested. "Isn't it enough to say that she wanted sex with me and tried to entice me into it?"

"Then why didn't you want her?" Donna angrily demanded. "Although it sounds as though you managed to get part of the way, so you weren't immune to her body. It's not as though you've got the excuse that she's old, fat and ugly. She's an old man's dream come true. "

He guiltily winced at her harsh words. And took the risk of looking directly at her, seeing the hurt and betrayal on her face. "Maybe. But she isn't this man's dream." When Donna still glared at him, he decided to tell the absolute truth. "I was flattered, obviously. What man wouldn't be. She was a breath of fresh air after all the grief and pain I'd been through, losing my family and everything I held dear in my life. I tried to start again, and Rose was there with her youthful exuberance, thinking I could do anything and offering me unconditional love."

"So what went wrong?"

"She wanted more from me; a physical relationship that went beyond hugging and holding hands."

"Aw, poor you having to shag an available, young, beautiful, rich, nubile and very flexible millionaire heiress. My heart bleeds for you," Donna sarcastically commented.

Choosing to contest the barb, he protested, "You don't understand! I tried, for her sake, but I couldn't."

Wanting to twist the knife, she asked, "Couldn't what?"

"I couldn't do it." He grimaced at the memory. "Every time I pushed her away."

She drew her knees up and clasped her arms around her legs, using them as a shield from the hurt. "Why?"

"Because I... Because..."

"Why?" she demanded more forcibly.

So he set his stern gaze upon her; angry enough to reveal his secret but too ashamed to shout it out loud. "Because I was impotent. It was too soon for me to move on, so I froze; every single time she laid a hand on me. I didn't want that sort of relationship with her, but she refused to accept it," he confessed. "There. That's the truth."

"You didn't have any problem last night."

"Just think, will you?" he pleaded. "We haven't exactly jumped into bed with each other at the first opportunity. We took it nice and slow, showing respect and giving one another space."

Inevitably Donna snorted her scorn. "Are you saying Rose merely got her timing wrong? Or did I win some sort of lottery? Give me a break."

Moving up onto his knees, he held his hands towards her. "Oh Donna. I know why you find it hard to believe me after all you've been through, but what I said last night is the truth. I love you. Why else would I let myself be talked into choosing a family home where your cousin's children will hopefully live with us one day? I'd hoped you knew. Yes, I've been a bit reluctant to say it out loud in case I ruin things between us, but I can't think of anyone I'd rather spend the rest of my life with."

She shifted in her seat. "You're just saying that to shut me up."

"Am I?" Shaking his head in disbelief, he gently smiled at her more relaxed posture. "Then I shall keep repeating myself until you believe that I want to love and protect you for as long as I can."

"Stop it," she feebly begged, giving a sniff.

"No, I won't," he insisted, and knelt before her, edging closer to take her hands in his. "I was worried I wouldn't be able to perform for you, that I would ruin things before we even began properly. But I needn't have fretted so much and should have trusted how I feel about you."

"You still haven't explained why you murmured Rose's name when you woke up," she blankly reminded him.

Sighing, he realised how much her trust had been destroyed in the past, and his own failings at building their relationship. Licking his lips, he admitted, "Rose sometimes came into my bedroom early in the morning, hoping to take advantage of a natural rise in testosterone. And every time I would try to get rid of her."

"She didn't even get a cuddle?" she voiced in disbelief.

"I could not risk that and the hurt she suffered when I couldn't…." He gave a defensive sniff. "It's extremely shaming to be impotent."

"I wouldn't know," she murmured for something to say.

Leaning into her personal space, he brought his lips within millimetres of hers. "Donna, I love you with all my heart," he huskily murmured. "I'd like to kiss you, if that's alright?"

Getting no refusal, he did just that. But it was a half-hearted response from her, as he'd expected.

"Is there anything else you want me to do?" he wondered.

"You could put some clothes on," she blurted out in embarrassment. "All that pale flesh is blinding me."

Chuckling, he admitted, "Donna Noble, what would I ever do without you to bring me down to Earth? I'd rather not find out."

"You'd better not," she agreed.

After another quick peck on the lips, he leaned over to collect some of his scattered clothing. Amongst it was his phone. Thoughtfully considering it, he decided to make the call he had been avoiding. "Let's face the music."

Placing a hand on Donna's knee to ground himself, he dialled the number.

"Hello Rose. Yes, it's me. I need to collect the rest of my stuff. When would be convenient?" There was a pause as he listened to her gasped response. "Because I have moved out and found somewhere else to live. No, I'm not doing this to gain a reaction from you; far from it." He paused and glanced towards Donna, tenderly smoothing his fingers across her knee. "She's still here with me. Why?" The answer caused him to deeply sigh. "My reasons for leaving you weren't entirely influenced by Donna. Even you have to admit we weren't working out as a couple. Our lives are going in different directions, and I need… Pardon?!" His shocked gaze was turned fully on to Donna. "Let me get this straight; you paid someone to follow us and take photographs? Considering two young and vulnerable children are involved, I think I have every right to be angry with you. Their identity and safety are what worries me! If you selfishly release those photos to the press I will not be accountable for my actions. I warn you now. Then maybe next time you ought to try asking me personally rather than running around behind my back, and I might give you the information you so obviously crave. Well, thank you for remembering I had a family of my own once, Rose. How very grown up of you!" He rubbed a hand down his face in disgust, trying to keep his temper under control. "Anyway, I will be coming to the Lodge on Saturday to collect the remainder of my things. Whether you want to be there or not is up to you. Goodbye."

"What did she say?" Donna inevitably anxiously asked him as soon as he came off the phone.

"We were completely right with our suspicions. She had us stalked by a private investigator. Her idea of persuading me to stay was by threatening to send certain photos of us with Jenny and Ben to a newspaper. One paper in particular has already shown an interest, considering our split," he supplied bitterly. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want to drag you all into this mess."

"It isn't too late for you to go back, if that's what you really want," she made herself say. "You must miss all of the luxury you gave up when you fell out with Rose," she added when he didn't immediately answer.

To her surprise and relief, he shook his head. "Oh Donna. Do you really think I would want to give up all that I've gained recently? My only joy in life was my work; but now I have you," he emphasised, taking her hands in his again. "Rose has her good points and I'll always be grateful for her bringing me out of the deep grief I was stuck in, but she was also suffocating me with her demands. And there is one very important point to consider."

"What's that?"

"I love you, not her. With you I can laugh again and be complete."

Mentally scoring herself a point, Donna dismissed him with, "You're just saying that because you've got your mojo back."

He laughed with delight and kissed her sweetly. "Oh yes, I'm very grateful for its return," he whispered. "Can't think which beautiful ginger goddess is responsible for that."

"Goddess!" she scoffed.

"My goddess," he insisted pulling her down onto his lap, into his warm embrace, "for all sorts of reasons."

Donna had to admit that she'd heard make-up sex was good, but this was the first time she'd ever had any proof it was true.

./-\\.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:** this doesn't feel finished so I'll probably be back to add something later.

* * *

 **Part 17**

.

"Hello Mum. Just phoning to let you know that things are okay."

"What did he say?" Sylvia wondered. "Are you safe?"

"Yes, so there's no need for you to worry. It was merely a misunderstanding," Donna assured her mother. "We'll bring the children to meet you this weekend."

"Oh good. I can't wait to meet them and John," Sylvia enthused. "I know: how about we meet midway and have a nice picnic? Sort of ease them into knowing us. We could go to a nice country park."

"That'd work," Donna agreed. "There's a bit of Vitex Lodge that is open to the public, so we could kill two birds with one stone, seeing as we need to pick up a few bits from there."

"Sounds ideal. I'll call you when I'm leaving. Let me get a pen and I'll jot down the address," Sylvia requested. "Won't be a minute." And with that she hurriedly searched for a working pen and a scrap of paper. "Okay, I'm ready. Tell me where it is…"

./-\\.

"Donna, sorry, I won't be able to make it to pick you up just yet. The thing is, the police are here," Sylvia brokenly explained. "We've had a break in."

"Oh no!" Donna gasped in horror. It would take her mother months of vigorous cleaning to make her house feel like home again. She could feel the urge to purge the place from there. "Did they take much?"

"I'm not sure yet," Sylvia cautiously replied. "They were obviously after something in particular. The place is a mess; like a bomb went off. Stuff everywhere. The crime investigation team have been dusting for fingerprints. Once they're done I can come and get Joan's two."

"Mum, there's no hurry. Don't worry about Jenny and Ben. We can easily look after them while you sort things out with the police and insurance company. I'm sure they'll love camping in the bedroom here if need be. The new beds won't turn up until Thursday."

"Okay. I'll phone you later when I know what's happening a bit more."

"Rightio. And no chatting up the detective," Donna teased to lighten the mood.

"As if I would," Sylvia denied, but chuckled despite herself. "He's more Suzette's type."

"Says you," Donna retorted. "I want full details when I speak to you later. Let me know if there's any way I can help. Bye!"

"What was that about police?" the Doctor anxiously wondered.

"Someone's broke into Mum's place and ransacked it by the sound of it. So she won't be able to meet us for a picnic and we might end up having Jenny and Ben here tonight."

He gave Donna a comforting hug. "Don't worry, it will be alright. We will go and help your mother tidy up when the police have left; and try to change this into an adventure for the children."

From within his embrace, she asked, "What about picking up your things?"

"We can still do that. I'm sure a couple of extra small helping hands won't do much harm. And if they become bored they can have a run around in the Vitex Lodge grounds for a while."

"And Rose?" she risked querying.

Grimacing, he confidently stated, "I can't see her being too much trouble."

However, Donna was not convinced. "And worst case scenario, Jenny and Ben might stop Rose wanting to rip my throat out."

"It won't come to that. Promise."

./-\\.

"Wow!" Ben exclaimed as he climbed out of the Doctor's car and took in the grandeur of Vitex Lodge. "You live here?"

"Used to live here," the Doctor corrected, reaching to take hold of Jenny's hand. "I've moved on and we'll all be living in Plum Tree Cottage soon. You can help me with some of my stuff."

Ben's face lit up with delight. "Did you hear that, Jenny? Our favourite garden, with the river, swings and everything."

Jenny bounced up and down in excitement. "Oooh, ooh. Is it true, Doctor?" She then pouted thoughtfully. "Or do I have to call you Uncle John now?"

He gave her hand a warm squeeze. "Whatever you want, sweetheart. I don't mind."

"You've changed your tune," Donna fondly muttered. "Okay, kiddiwinkies," she more loudly proclaimed, "I shall need lots of help to carry papers to the car and the most helpful person gets to choose what we have for dessert later."

"I want chocolate cake," Jenny announced. "With ice cream."

"You always want chocolate cake," Ben noted and considered his possible choice. "I want… a big sundae."

"Then you'd better get your bum in gear and follow me," Donna chivvied him, with a bump of her hips. "Otherwise I'll be choosing prunes and custard."

"Ew no!" Ben scrunched his face up in disgust. "Not that. I'll make sure you don't win. Where shall I start?"

Donna led them into her former office while the Doctor went upstairs to collect the last of his belongings from his bedroom. "We need to empty out this filing cabinet and then grab the Doctor's books."

Jenny had walked over to the desk and peered with interest at the items laying on the top. "Why have you got photos of us, Auntie Donna?"

"What photos?" she wondered and immediately joined Jenny to have a look. "Oh my god!"

Spread out over the desk where photos of the four of them eating a meal the previous weekend.

"Can we keep them?" Jenny asked. "Nanny would like to see."

Donna had already begun to collect the photos into one pile. "Yes, we're keeping these. They could be dangerous if left here."

"Why?" Ben inevitably asked.

"Because…" Now how should Donna answer that one without putting the fear of God into the two children. "Rose very naughtily got someone to take them when she shouldn't have done, and we don't want Social Services stopping you coming to live with us when Aunt Joan goes into hospital."

"No," Ben agreed. He'd grown to like his new pseudo aunt and uncle rather a lot. "I want to stay with you," he stated with feeling.

Cupping his cheek, Donna smiled fondly at him. "And we want you to stay with us for as long as you like. So we will take these photos out of harm's way."

"Does Rose like us?" Jenny suddenly asked, tilting her head in thought.

"I don't honestly know," Donna admitted. "She hasn't met you yet, but be polite and well behaved when you do."

"Who are you?" a female voice enquired, making them all turn in her direction.

Standing in the doorway was Jackie.

"Is that her?" Jenny anxiously whispered to Donna.

She shook her head in reply. "Hello Jackie! It feels like ages since I saw you. How have you been? These are my cousin's two children. They'll be staying with us for a while."

Jackie greeted Donna in kind, learned the children's names, and chatted pleasantly with them for a while before remarking, "Aren't these the kids in those photos? Sorry about Rose doing that. How about I take you two down to the kitchen for some ice cream while Donna finishes here?"

"Yes, please!" Jenny eagerly answered for both of them. "Is that alright, Auntie Donna?"

"Go on," Donna encouraged them. "Go with Jackie and I'll be down in a minute for a cup of tea."

"I'll make it for you," Ben volunteered, and got a grateful hug in return.

./-\\.  
"Ah, we meet again," the Doctor playfully greeted her when she reached the car with an armful of paperwork. He opened the boot to help her dump it all. "All my stuff is more or less in now. Just have to get my best suit. Where are the children?"

"Schmoozing Jackie in the kitchen," she supplied. "They soon worked their magic on her."

Under the cover of the open boot lid, he risked giving her a quick peck on the lips. "Is it as good as my magic?"

"No competition at all," she returned the tease. "They win hands down."

"Then I shall have to up my game because I am determined to win you."

"I'm not a goldfish in a funfair, thank you very much."

./-\\.

The Doctor was just closing a suit bag from his wardrobe when an extremely familiar voice greeted him with, "Hello Doctor."

"Hello Rose," he politely replied. "How are you?"

"A little out of sorts, to be honest," she evenly stated. "But that's to be expected when your boyfriend suddenly dumps you out of the blue and sets up camp with his ginger fan club."

"It was hardly out of the blue," he countered. "You've been complaining for ages about our relationship."

Forcing herself to stay calm, she gritted out, "You know why I've been so unhappy. Don't try and turn it around so that it's my fault when you know full well that the problem is you."

"Yes, it's me," he agreed, not feeling that bitter twist in his gut for a change. The last twenty-four hours had proved otherwise, after all. "Sorry, I don't need you anymore."

"Don't need me!" Rose gasped in disbelief. "Who are you kidding? You'd be nothing without me."

"And for that I am very grateful, but I'd be lying if I said I wanted your love."

"I see," she noted, sniffing back tears. "So who is she?"

He tried to look innocent. "Who's who?"

"The woman you've replaced me with," she clarified. "Who is she?!"

"I didn't instantly swap you for someone else. It doesn't work like that," he quietly insisted. "Sometimes you just aren't able to love someone back."

"I could change," she offered.

"No." He shook his head. "I don't want you to and it wouldn't make any difference now. I've moved on."

She sneered at him. "Oh yes, I'd forgot; you've recently collected together a pretend little family. One where you don't have to perform any unnecessary duties. Where is she: Donna?" she wondered, pronouncing the name by stringing it out. "She can't be far."

"She's downstairs in the office, packing up my books and papers."

"Then I'd better go and say hello to her," she determined.

Not that he was convinced Rose's intentions were friendly in the slightest, so he halted her escape with a faint touch of the wrist. "I should warn you that the children are here. The ones you got your investigator to stalk; so you'd better not upset them."

"We can't have them all upset, can we," she sarcastically hissed at him. "Not your precious Donna and her orphans whereas it's fine to ruin my life." When he jerked in response, she added, "Yes, I know who they are, your little child wannabes. It's sick, if you ask me; going out to buy replacements."

"A bit like you try to do," he unwisely commented.

In a flash, Rose lashed out and slapped his face, sending him reeling.

"Okay, I deserved that," he acknowledged, dabbing his cheek to see if she'd drawn blood. "Sorry for hurting you. It was unintentional, but I had to get away. You were smothering me. I'm leaving now. If there's anything else of mine I've forgot to collect, send me an email and I'll arrange for it to be removed."

"Mum put some stuff in the garage," she numbly revealed.

"Thank you, Rose. You've been a valued friend. Goodbye."

Walking away, he didn't have to see her to know she would cry her heart out as they both descended the stairs. And the compassionate part of him was disgusted that he was pleased with the knowledge.

./-\\.

"HUH! Oh Rose, you made me jump, sneaking up on me like that," Donna chided her old employer. She'd just stepped out of the office having double checked everything important had been collected before being on her way to the car with Jenny and Ben. "We're virtually done here so we'll get out of your hair."

Rose stared blankly at her. "Aren't you going to introduce me to the children?"

Jackie stood in the doorway to the kitchen, having ushered the children into the hallway. At the Doctor's gestured insistence, Jackie gently pushed them forward for Rose's scrutiny.

"Of course," Donna agreed. Putting out a hand towards each child, she said, "This is Jenny and Ben Noble. I'm looking after them for my aunt. Say 'hello' you two."

"Hello," Jenny and Ben both cautiously greeted this unfamiliar scary looking woman.

"I hope you haven't been keeping Jackie away from her work, you two," the Doctor fondly queried; expecting the denial he gained.

"We was good. Wasn't we, Jenny?" Ben maintained.

Jenny nodded as she skipped over to the Doctor to gain a hug. "And I promised not to be sick cos we had ice cream."

"They were extremely well behaved. I was just about to tell you," Jackie launched into an explanation, "that an old friend of Donna's has just turned up to help you move out stuff."

Shocked, Donna whirled on the spot to ask, "What old friend? Nobody has this address."

"Well, he certainly knows you," Jackie insisted. "Oh, there he is!" She pointed towards the man who had just entered the hallway behind them.

"Lance!" Donna gasped in horror, throwing out a hand for support.

Quietly behind her, the Doctor nudged Jackie out of Lance's sight, back into the kitchen, and hastily whispered, "Phone the police. Now! He's probably armed so this will get dangerous."

Having gained a silent 'yes' from Jackie, the Doctor slowly eased himself towards Donna. But her attention was solely on Lance and whatever tactic he might come up with next.

Lance thrust his hands into his pockets in a defiant pose. He took no time to use this situation to his benefit. "Hello Donna," Lance aimed his greeting right at her. "I see you've been busy." He nodded towards the children.

"How did you know where to find me?" she managed to get out.

"Oh, you know," he nonchalantly answered, sauntering closer to the group. "Mothers can be very useful with information."

"It was you who broke into my Mum's house," she accused him. "You arsehole!"

"Might have been," he admitted. "If you had told me yourself, it would have been easier than having to track you down like this."

Now by Donna's side, the Doctor insisted, "I think you ought to leave, Lance. You've done enough damage already."

"Do you now?" Lance hissed in anger. "There'll be even more damage if she doesn't do as she's told. Get over here!"

"No." Donna stood her ground. "Who do you think you are? You don't get to order me about."

The Doctor stepped protectively in front of her. "This your last chance to leave without being escorted away by the police."

"Hark at Mr Big," Lance mocked him. "Thinking he can protect her. I'll soon change your mind." With that, he drew out his hand to reveal it held a six-inch blade.

In a split second he grabbed hold of the nearest person to him, who unfortunately happened to be Rose, and poised the knife tip at her throat. He brought her in front of his body, using his weight and one arm to stop her resisting.

Too shocked to do anything else, Rose shrieked, "Help me, Doctor!"

"Hand Donna back to me or your girlfriend gets it!" Lance threatened.

The Doctor immediately raised his hands in surrender. "Now, don't be hasty. We don't want to hurt anyone."

Weighing up his options, Lance realised he needed a bigger threat. "Or perhaps I ought to take one of these with me too." With that, Lance snatched up Jenny from her nearby hiding place and held her tightly with his other arm in a head lock.

"NO!" Donna screamed. "I'll go with you. I'll do anything, just put the girl down. Make sure she is safe first and I'll come."

"So you're not worried about this one?" Lance queried, jabbing Rose in the throat.

Rose stifled a whimper as she felt a trickle of blood on her skin.

Getting all upset wouldn't work with him. Donna knew this from past experience. Instead, he had to be subtly argued out of carrying out a threat. "To be honest, you kill her it's your responsibility, but if you harm one hair on Jenny's head, it becomes my responsibility and I would track you down to kill you in your sleep if it came to that." She then spotted the boy edging towards his sister. "Get back, Ben!"

"Ah, I almost forgot for a moment. There's another one," Lance noted, cackling with suppressed glee. "You always was a push over if a kid was involved." On the last word, he threw Rose away and grabbed Ben.

"Doctor!" Rose shrieked as she fell to the floor at the Doctor's feet.

He dipped to assess her injuries, but Donna was ignoring her plight. Instead, all her attention was on getting Jenny and Ben away from Lance's clutches. Both children were frozen in fright.

"Why are you doing this? Did you get fed up with your latest meal ticket? Forget I said that. Just let them go, that's all I ask. I've already said I'll come with you, so why hang onto them? Whatever you want is okay, but please let them go."

"Beg a bit more," he demanded.

"I want proof you'll reconsider first," she in turn commanded. Previous experience had taught her that just begging him to stop would not work in her favour either.

"There," he spat out, loosening his grip a little. "Well? I'm waiting."

She moved sideways, looking for any means to catch Lance off-guard. If it came to it, she would willingly step forward and take their place. This needed a brand-new tactic. Donna took a deep breath and began to slowly move.

"I need more than that, Lance," she firmly insisted. "After all, I begged you not to bang my head against the floor in your flat, but you never took any notice. Nor did you stop when I begged you to that time Chelsea lost to Arsenal. I still have the burn mark nicely tucked away out of sight. But I never told anyone, as I promised I wouldn't. I held my end of the bargain, even when the police turned up in A&E to question me. Do you remember that? And we mustn't forge the lovely shiner I got for Valentine's Day. All because I wanted a card from you."

Slowly circumnavigating him seemed to work for the time being. If only she had thought to do this years ago.

"Yet here we are again, with me at your mercy," she continued. "The trouble is, you chose the wrong person to threaten me in front of. Do you know who Rose is?"

Lance shook his head. "The girlfriend of your new best friend. Why? She isn't exactly royalty, is she?" he mocked. "Who cares who she is?"

"Ah, that's where you're wrong," Donna softly declared. "Normally people can be threatened, bought off, or made to disappear. But do you know what? You picked on the daughter of a famous businessman. There's no way you can wheedle your way out of this one, because Daddy will pay any sum of money to get his revenge. He won't care if you're dead or alive."

"You're making it up," Lance countered. "Trust you to come up with some fairy story. That's very you. Always full of damsels in distress being rescued by heroes. Well, there's no one to rescue you, not even this time. No one cares enough about you. Why would they for someone who is so thick she can't point to Germany on a map?"

"It was a joke!" Donna protested.

"Says you!" he cruelly snapped back. "Even these two littluns only care because they want you to take their place. You're nothing and nobody. Never have been and never will be."

"Then why do all this?" Rose bravely queried.

Lance let go of Jenny to yell, "Shut up, bitch!" Then he landed a punch on Rose's jaw, causing her to slump to the floor.

Both children screamed; but Donna took her opportunity to pull Jenny free of the danger zone. That inflamed Lance's anger more. Like a spitting cobra, he lunged at Donna, gripping her around the throat with both hands, releasing Ben accidentally as he did so. Ben quickly scrambled over to Jenny and hid with her behind a large cabinet.

Donna tried to cough out a retort, but her windpipe was too restricted.

"Got you, just where I wanted you," Lance practically hissed. "Look at you now, Miss High-and-mighty. Thought you'd escaped me, didn't you, but thanks to your new dippy friend it was easy to find your hiding place. I warned you not to run away. Didn't I!" he shouted into her face. "Nothing to say for yourself?" he continued to taunt her. "What a shame no one will hear your last words. They will be buried with you."

All Donna could do was splutter as Lance tried to drag her body towards the exit and where his car lay in waiting to take her to a burial site. But he was stopped in his tracks; for in the doorway, looking like a thunderstorm, was the Doctor.

"Look what's finally turned up," Lance sneered. "I thought you was more of a kiss and run sort of thing."

The Doctor ignored the insult. So Lance had seen them, had he? "Let her go!" he ordered. "I'm warning you. You have one chance to comply or you'll be sorry."

"What are you going to do?" Lance scorned. "All you're good for is kissing strays."

"Doctor? What does he mean?" Rose wondered, having roused herself and then propped her body against the nearest convenient wall.

"Nothing," the Doctor answered.

But Lance instantly cottoned on. "Didn't he tell you about him and her? Well, well, well. It isn't like Donna to go after a wuss."

"Donna?" Rose frowned in confusion. "Doctor tell me. What's going on?"

"This isn't about you, Rose."

"Then you'd better tell me straight," she huffed. "Because you ain't going through that door until you do."

"Later," he cautioned as Lance made a dash for it, trying to barge his way out. "HAH!" he squealed, his hands a blur.

Seconds later Lance was prone on the marble floor; out cold.

"Donna! Donna are you okay?" the Doctor sought to confirm, kneeling by her side and running his fingers along her throat. All she could do was slightly nod before bursting into tears. "It's alright. I've got you. Sh shh shhh," he soothed, gathering her into his arms.

Still stunned, Rose asked, "What was all that? How did you stop him?"

"Venusian Aikido," the Doctor replied. "It's a form of karate."

"And what do you call this?" Rose sternly demanded to know, pointing at him still cuddling Donna.

"The end of my job," Donna hoarsely remarked. "Sorry."

"Don't try and talk," the Doctor advised. "Not yet."

"I'm frightened, Uncle John," Jenny sobbed.

Ben was trembling beside her, so he drew the two children into a communal hug. "It's okay. The police will arrive in a moment to take the bad man away."

./-\\.

The police had soon turned up, armed to the teeth in case Lance had a gun. But as it was, their normal stab vests were sufficient to deal with him once he began to rouse. Each of the victims gave the police a statement; and then they reconvened to have the inevitable cup of tea to take away all life's harms.

Both children refused to be split from one of the remaining adults left in their lives, so the Doctor and Donna sat at the Tyler kitchen table with a child in their lap, clinging on to them as they drank their tea.

"I'm so sorry about all this," Donna apologised for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day.

"It's alright. It ain't your fault," Jackie forgave each time.

"Right. Let's get these two home," the Doctor stated decisively.

"So, they've got a home with you now?" Jackie queried.

"Erm." He gave a cautious nod. "Yes, it would appear so."

"Try and tone down the enthusiasm," Donna teased. "That was almost a decision then."

The Doctor gave Ben a squeeze as he dozed in his embrace. "I think it is. If nothing else, today has shown me what I hold dear in life."

From behind her mug, Rose forlornly regarded him. "Does that include Donna now?"

"Yes," he agreed.

"But not me," she added.

He winced slightly. "I'm afraid not. No."

Rose wasn't finished with her questions. "What Lance said, was he right about catching you kiss someone? Do you love Donna?"

Jackie leaned forward in interest, and Donna ducked her head so that he wouldn't look into her eyes. "Yes. I love Donna," he calmly admitted.

"And what about you, Donna? How do you feel about all that unwanted attention?" Rose surged on.

Feeling bold, Donna lifted her head to reply sincerely, "I don't mind it all, to be honest."

"What, you're saying he's turned you?"

"No, I didn't need turning in the first place. It was you who insisted that I'm not interested in men, not me. I merely played along to get the job. Sorry."

"But… But…" Rose gaped at her in astonishment. "So you and he…" She waved her finger between the two of them. "That's disgusting! And in breach of your contract."

"As I said earlier, I sort of accidentally handed in my notice to you," Donna agreed. "Although in fairness, I did stop a few women trying it on with him."

"She did." The Doctor nodded; and smiled at the memory.

"And I handed you to him on a plate," Rose noted to herself. "How could I have been so stupid?"

"Well, I was engaged to that piece of low life the police hauled away earlier, so I can't talk about anyone being stupid," Donna confessed. "We all make mistakes."

"Can we go home, Auntie Donna?" Jenny sleepily requested. "I'm tired."

Donna pressed a kiss to Jenny's head and cuddled her closer. "You must be after all that excitement."

"They're lovely children," Rose complimented. "You'll make good parents for them."

"She's right, you know," Jackie agreed. "They're a credit to you."

"Thanks." Donna flushed with embarrassment. "Come on then, Jenny. Say goodbye."

"Bye," Ben drowsily spoke as he stood up.

"Thank you, Rose, for understanding," the Doctor softly told her. "About everything. I was a coward not to tell you sooner."

She didn't have the words to voice her feelings; not in front of the children. And she acknowledged that she had lost him to this small family in front of her. It was something she wasn't able to instantly give him, yet he yearned and craved that level of attachment in his life again. So she merely nodded her head, sniffed back her tears and uttered, "See you again one day. Have a good life."

./-\\. ./-\\. ./-\\.


End file.
